Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 65.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,676 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,513 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Celanese were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CE. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,263 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 13,442 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,024 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CE. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.50.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Celanese Trading Up 0.4%

Celanese stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $60.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,082,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,281,096. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. Celanese Corporation has a 1-year low of $36.29 and a 1-year high of $147.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $52.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.11.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

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

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.