Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $3.62 Million Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,852 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,622,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $953,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Celanese by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after buying an additional 1,302,758 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Celanese by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after buying an additional 468,003 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,031,776,000 after buying an additional 354,367 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in Celanese by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,761,567,000 after acquiring an additional 329,740 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $153.13.

Celanese Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $4.83 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 961,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 776,775. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.64. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $110.76 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. Celanese's revenue 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, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Celanese's payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.