Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Sells 3,416 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,416 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,596,947,000 after purchasing an additional 323,862 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after acquiring an additional 570,501 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,022,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $379,343,000 after acquiring an additional 230,275 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Celanese by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 902,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $113,235,000 after purchasing an additional 42,124 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 884,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,030,000 after purchasing an additional 13,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE CE traded down $2.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $152.94. 39,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,000. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

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.