Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Stock Holdings in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Celanese Corporation by 512.9%, acquiring an additional 30,969 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to 37,007 shares valued at approximately $2.1 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Celanese, with Wells Fargo increasing its target from $66 to $72, while BMO Capital Markets upgraded their rating from "underperform" to "market perform" with a new target of $55.
• Celanese has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, which will be paid on August 11, reflecting a 0.3% dividend yield.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 512.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,007 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,969 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Celanese were worth $2,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. State of Wyoming raised 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Celanese by 127.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Celanese in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE traded down $6.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.25. 12,809,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,839,857. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $55.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.36. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $142.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently -0.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on CE shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 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, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently 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.