LRI Investments LLC Makes New $31,000 Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 142.1% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Celanese by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the first quarter worth $49,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $131.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $140.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.24. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $110.76 and a 1 year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.42). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Celanese from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.75.

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.