New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,301 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Celanese worth $17,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 92.6% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 180.0% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 83.7% during 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. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE opened at $164.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.00. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $99.33 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. Celanese’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now 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 available at the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Celanese

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.