Kerusso Capital Management LLC Makes New $2.75 Million Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Kerusso Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 20,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,752,000. Celanese comprises about 2.0% of Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth $170,000. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 12.6% in the second quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,134,000 after buying an additional 2,203 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 22.1% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 30,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,077,000 after buying an additional 5,599 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,423,000 after buying an additional 27,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.13.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $120.04 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $132.75 and its 200 day moving average is $146.81. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

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.