Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 13,891 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.17% of Celanese worth $25,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Celanese by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,286,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036,362 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Celanese by 608.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 592,196 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Celanese by 528.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,142,000 after acquiring an additional 219,095 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $353,145,000 after acquiring an additional 177,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Celanese by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CE traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,360,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,241. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.89.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Celanese's payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Celanese from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.56.

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.