Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 3rd, 2023

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Free Report) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Celanese by 588.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 234 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 50.7% in the first quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $146.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. 22nd Century Group reaffirmed a “downgrade” rating on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.07.

Get Our Latest Research Report on CE

Insider Activity

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

Celanese Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $123.51 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $116.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.25. The company has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.32. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $86.71 and a 52-week high of $128.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.35. Celanese had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The firm 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 firm posted $5.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.