Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Takes Position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,569 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 739.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Celanese by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the firm'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 purchase, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Celanese Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,810,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,326,233. The company has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of -3.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. Celanese Corporation has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $144.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.28.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Celanese from $51.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.50.

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.