Scott A. Richardson Sells 4,675 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Stock

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $2.15 on Wednesday, reaching $130.65. 734,153 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,450. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 7.19, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $110.76 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho raised their price target on Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.13.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $951,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at $948,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 41,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,470,000 after acquiring an additional 17,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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.