Employees Retirement System of Texas Invests $37.36 Million in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 53,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,360,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3,526.8% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 18,974 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 316.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 359,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,869,000 after buying an additional 273,087 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its position in Celanese by 673.8% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 65,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,540,000 after acquiring an additional 57,124 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,184,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE opened at $40.83 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.53. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $38.19 and a 52 week high of $169.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of -2.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.61.

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.