Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $948,000 Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,596,947,000 after acquiring an additional 323,862 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after acquiring an additional 570,501 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,022,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $379,343,000 after acquiring an additional 230,275 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 902,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $113,235,000 after acquiring an additional 42,124 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 884,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,030,000 after acquiring an additional 13,149 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

Celanese Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $153.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.