Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,453,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 40,032 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,771,000 after buying an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in Celanese by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 5,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CE traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.75. 5,328,541 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,719,022. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $51.24 and a one year high of $172.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.16. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of -3.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -20.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CE shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Celanese from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.53.

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.