Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 83.7% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Celanese in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 51.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. 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 report on Monday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.56.

Celanese Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $153.83 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly 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). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.