Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 335.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 543,042 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 418,446 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of Celanese worth $30,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Celanese by 166.8% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,419,000 after acquiring an additional 15,630 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Celanese in the first quarter worth $907,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Celanese by 127.0% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Celanese by 0.8% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 106,766 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,061,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Celanese by 55.1% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 33,508 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 11,905 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE traded down $1.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 814,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,301,335. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $147.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of -4.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $55.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.75.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently -0.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.33.

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.