Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 80,846 Shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 157.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 132,070 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 80,846 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned approximately 0.12% of Celanese worth $7,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Celanese by 127.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 739.1% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $59.25. 1,528,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,907,569. Celanese Corporation has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $147.85. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $55.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.58. The company has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CE. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.72.

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.