IFG Advisory LLC Has $5.75 Million Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

IFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 80.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,515 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $5,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Celanese by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Celanese by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in Celanese by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CE. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America lowered shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.28.

Celanese Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $169.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $152.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $99.33 and a 52-week high of $169.73.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

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.