Strs Ohio Cuts Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Strs Ohio reduced its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,045 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 83.7% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 51.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.56.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $154.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $158.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $99.33 and a 12 month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

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.