Ground Swell Capital LLC Invests $256,000 in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in Celanese by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 3.1% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.4% in the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 20.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $124.81 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.74 and its 200-day moving average is $138.47. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $114.05 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CE. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.44.

Celanese 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.