Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $3.62 Million in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,622,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Up 0.7 %

CE opened at $127.73 on Tuesday. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $110.76 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.64.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.13.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.