Benjamin Edwards Inc. Grows Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $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, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE:CE opened at $126.90 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $110.76 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.90. 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 (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 2.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.13.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese 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 in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.