California State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,185 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,026 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Celanese worth $9,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,950 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 8,740 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $1,952,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $3,736,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 155.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 23,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,614,000 after buying an additional 14,184 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CE. Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Vertical Research raised shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Celanese Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:CE traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.38. 296,081 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,211,217. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of -3.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $150.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.