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

Kerusso Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 20,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,752,000. Celanese comprises approximately 2.0% of Kerusso Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 100.0% during the fourth 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. acquired a new stake in Celanese during the first quarter worth about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its position in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Celanese from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group cut their target price on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $153.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Celanese Trading Down 1.2 %

CE stock traded down $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $120.04. 1,048,136 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,470. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The stock's fifty day moving average is $132.75 and its 200-day moving average is $146.79. The company has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.