abrdn plc Raises Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 69.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 41,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,081 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Celanese were worth $6,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CE. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Celanese by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Celanese by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,196,000 after buying an additional 5,645 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Celanese by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 34,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the 3rd quarter worth $355,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.56.

Celanese Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE CE opened at $154.49 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $99.33 and a one year high of $172.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

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.