Aigen Investment Management LP Purchases 7,094 Shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in Celanese Corporation by 32.6%, now holding 28,871 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million.
• Several large investors, including Federated Hermes Inc., have also significantly increased their positions, indicating growing institutional interest, with 98.87% of the company's stock owned by institutional investors.
• Celanese has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, which will be paid on August 11th, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.3%.

Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 32.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,871 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in Celanese were worth $1,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 73.2% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in Celanese in the first quarter valued at $28,389,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Celanese by 85.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,983 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Celanese by 301.3% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 360,683 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,476,000 after acquiring an additional 270,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Celanese in the first quarter valued at $860,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Celanese from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Celanese from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Cfra Research raised Celanese to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.94.

Celanese Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.57. 508,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,835,834. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Celanese Corporation has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $142.54. The stock's fifty day moving average is $55.19 and its 200 day moving average is $53.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.30% and a positive return on equity of 10.48%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.81%.

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.