Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) Stock Position Cut by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 163,820 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 25,539 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.15% of Celanese worth $9,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. State of Wyoming increased its stake in Celanese by 122.5% during the 4th 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 period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 739.1% in 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 in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Caption Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought 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 now owns 15,468 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $56.87. 2,836,429 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,263,749. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.42. Celanese Corporation has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $147.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of -3.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation 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. Shareholders 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 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CE. Vertical Research upgraded 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. Bank of America upped their target price on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One 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.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.11.

About Celanese

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.