Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 376 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CE. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 35,898 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Celanese by 30.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the third quarter worth $7,879,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after acquiring an additional 6,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its position in shares of Celanese by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 66,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:CE opened at $137.00 on Monday. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $105.15 and a one year high of $172.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.41.

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.