Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 398 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Celanese during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the first quarter worth $49,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 0.1 %

CE stock opened at $134.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 7.43, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $110.76 and a one year high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.71.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Company 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.