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

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,439 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,774 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.19% of Celanese worth $27,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,899,384 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,560,608,000 after acquiring an additional 90,206 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,031,776,000 after acquiring an additional 354,367 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,761,567,000 after acquiring an additional 329,740 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,325,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,158,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,058,447,000 after acquiring an additional 21,085 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Celanese from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.13.

Celanese Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:CE traded up $2.44 on Friday, reaching $131.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 725,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,324. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.73%. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Celanese 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.