Sovran Advisors LLC Invests $329,000 in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,787 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 14,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 5,057 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth about $3,118,000. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 102.8% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,194 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,037,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $71,823,000 after purchasing an additional 46,856 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CE shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.50.

Celanese Stock Up 0.4%

Celanese stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.88. 1,082,023 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,288,461. The company has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.00, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50 day moving average is $53.51 and its 200 day moving average is $57.01. Celanese Corporation has a 52 week low of $36.29 and a 52 week high of $147.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

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.