Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Purchased by abrdn plc

abrdn plc raised its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balentine LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 3,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 3.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 112,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,832 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 131.2% during the third quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 30,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 17,191 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $286,000. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 92.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $101.69 per share, for a total transaction of $102,503.52. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,179,298.93. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $101.69 per share, for a total transaction of $102,503.52. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,179,298.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $107.29 per share, for a total transaction of $214,580.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,165 shares in the company, valued at $5,060,332.85. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 4,208 shares of company stock worth $457,664. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $108.18 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $86.71 and a 1-year high of $161.37. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.35. Celanese had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 14.85%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.54 EPS. Celanese’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Celanese from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Bank of America began coverage on Celanese in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Celanese from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Celanese from $140.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.77.

About Celanese

(Get Rating)

Celanese Corp. engages in the provision of technology and specialty materials businesses. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Materials, Acetate Tow, Acetyl Chain and Other Activities. The Engineered Materials segment includes the engineered materials business, food ingredients business and certain strategic affiliates.