Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 177,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,553 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Celanese were worth $27,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CE opened at $154.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.05. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CE shares. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.56.

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.