First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Makes New $220,000 Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Celanese by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 60,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,565,000 after buying an additional 18,995 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in Celanese during the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 13,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Celanese by 4.1% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 20,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,570,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of 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 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. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CE. Barclays downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $163.32 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.90 and its 200-day moving average is $147.35. The firm has a market cap of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $99.33 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

About Celanese

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.