IFM Investors Pty Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 725 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Celanese by 16.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,659 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,143 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE traded up $1.29 on Friday, hitting $154.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 437,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 649,611. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $158.59 and a 200-day moving average of $145.05. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $99.33 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

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.