Mount Lucas Management LP Sells 8,619 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Mount Lucas Management LP reduced its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 59.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,619 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Celanese were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 6.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Down 0.2 %

CE opened at $73.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.42 and a 200-day moving average of $133.74. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler cut Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Vertical Research lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.35.

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.