Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,622,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 109.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 14.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,011,000 after acquiring an additional 15,643 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 447.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 41.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,071,000 after acquiring an additional 37,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 264.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CE opened at $127.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $110.76 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

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.