State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 14,515 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,515 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Celanese were worth $5,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.13.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $123.80 on Tuesday. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $13.52 billion, a PE ratio of 6.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.41%.

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.