Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $2.63 Million Holdings in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in Celanese Corporation by 19.4%, selling 11,134 shares and now owns 46,308 shares valued at approximately $2.63 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in Celanese, with Dodge & Cox and Invesco Ltd. recording increases of 100.3% and 105.0% respectively in the fourth quarter.
• Celanese's stock currently has an average target price of $66.50, with mixed ratings from analysts: one sell, eleven hold, and six buy ratings.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,308 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,134 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,263 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its position in shares of Celanese by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 13,442 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,024 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Down 7.0%

CE stock traded down $3.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.56. 1,212,785 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,788,887. The business's 50 day moving average price is $56.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.79. Celanese Corporation has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $142.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.14.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CE shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their price target on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

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.