Natixis Acquires Shares of 17,267 Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,968,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CE. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.75.

Celanese Stock Up 0.5 %

CE traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $137.55. 21,904 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 715,881. The company has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.75. 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 one year low of $110.76 and a one year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 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.