Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp trimmed its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,416 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,168,000 after acquiring an additional 36,701 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth $7,879,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,812,000 after acquiring an additional 10,775 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 14.1% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 131,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,590,000 after buying an additional 16,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the third quarter valued at $3,453,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.56.

Celanese Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:CE traded down $2.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $152.94. 39,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,000. The company’s 50 day moving average is $158.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.76. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.