Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Grows Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 14th, 2023

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. owned about 0.05% of Celanese worth $6,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 92.6% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Celanese by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Celanese by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 2.9% during the first quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 3,424 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Celanese by 1.6% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 6,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CE. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on Celanese in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $119.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Celanese from $140.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Vertical Research downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $133.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Monday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.71.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $122.67 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.71 and a fifty-two week high of $128.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $111.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.32.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 14.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 10.86 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 1st were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $101.69 per share, for a total transaction of $102,503.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,179,298.93. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $101.69 per share, with a total value of $102,503.52. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 accessible through this link. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $107.29 per share, for a total transaction of $214,580.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 47,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,060,332.85. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Celanese Company Profile

(Free Report)

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. The company 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.