Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Purchased by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,032 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,777 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Celanese were worth $2,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 137.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 6.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 78,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,712,000 after acquiring an additional 4,794 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 512.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 118,149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $16,064,000 after purchasing an additional 98,860 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Celanese by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,329 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CE shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised shares of Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.53.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.75. The stock had a trading volume of 5,328,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,719,022. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.16. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $51.24 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of -3.79, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. Celanese's payout ratio is -20.10%.

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.