Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 4,153 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,153 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Celanese were worth $6,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.13.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $130.60. 909,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 743,142. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company's 50 day moving average is $134.10 and its 200-day moving average is $147.86. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.76 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. Celanese's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.