Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Celanese were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CE shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.44.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE opened at $123.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.25. The stock has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.03, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.31. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $114.05 and a 12-month high of $172.16.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.94%.

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.