Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 27.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,592 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Price Performance

CE traded up $2.20 on Friday, hitting $142.02. 160,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 779,852. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.76 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. The business's fifty day moving average is $129.52 and its 200 day moving average is $144.35.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The business's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $153.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.