New Century Financial Group LLC Invests $1.25 Million in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Celanese in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.13.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE opened at $135.96 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.53 and its 200-day moving average is $144.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued 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). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued 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 yield of 2.06%. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

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.