Employees Retirement System of Texas Acquires Shares of 53,980 Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 53,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,736,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in Celanese by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 739.1% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.86. 1,742,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,214,645. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.73. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $152.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Celanese's payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

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.