Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lowered its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,968 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 22,228 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Celanese were worth $3,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 200.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Celanese by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Price Performance

CE stock traded up $2.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.48. The stock had a trading volume of 2,532,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,999,970. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $169.50. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $51.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Celanese from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.33.

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.