IFG Advisory LLC Has $5.75 Million Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

IFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 80.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 16,515 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $5,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at $155,102,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after purchasing an additional 570,501 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 332.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 547,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,264,000 after purchasing an additional 421,200 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 39.0% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,354,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,845,000 after purchasing an additional 379,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Celanese by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,596,947,000 after purchasing an additional 323,862 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $169.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $99.33 and a 12 month high of $169.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.71 and a 200-day moving average of $139.60. The company has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.35.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $135.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.28.

Celanese 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.