Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 5,599 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Celanese were worth $4,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Key Financial Inc lifted 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Celanese in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of 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 research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $119.11 on Wednesday. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.58.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced 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). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

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

About Celanese

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.