Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 142.1% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $139.20 on Tuesday. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.76 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $142.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.62.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CE. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.75.

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.