RFG Advisory LLC Acquires 1,035 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 17.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 142.1% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Celanese during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.13.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $125.19. The stock had a trading volume of 912,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,556. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $110.76 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a PE ratio of 6.87, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.67.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

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.