Natixis Advisors L.P. Increases Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $6,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 1.9% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Celanese by 46.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 60,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,565,000 after buying an additional 18,995 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in Celanese during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Strs Ohio grew its position in Celanese by 18.4% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 13,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in Celanese by 4.1% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 20,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,570,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Down 1.1 %

CE opened at $161.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $99.33 and a one year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. Analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.