PFG Investments LLC Invests $253,000 in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

PFG Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 197,566.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 11,854 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 210.8% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,752,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.13.

Celanese Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $123.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 6.78, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $110.76 and a one year high of $172.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $131.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.01.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.27%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

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.