State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 722.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,568 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 90,101 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned approximately 0.09% of Celanese worth $5,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 739.1% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Celanese during the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Caption Management LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $54.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,752,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,259,884. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $147.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CE. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% 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.