Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC Trims Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC lowered its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51,376 shares during the period. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors 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 stock in a transaction on 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 owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE CE opened at $139.29 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $110.76 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $129.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.22. The stock has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 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 (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

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.