State of Alaska Department of Revenue Boosts Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 16.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CE. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $363,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 16.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,659 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Celanese by 25.3% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 109.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Celanese by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,071,000 after purchasing an additional 37,577 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. KeyCorp cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $124.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $114.05 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.94%.

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.