Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Bought by Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 157.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,508 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $6,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the first quarter worth about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Key Financial Inc grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Stock Down 0.4 %

CE stock opened at $139.29 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $110.76 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 15.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.