First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Takes $1.58 Million Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 27,848 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,581,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Celanese by 91.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,766,000 after purchasing an additional 60,621 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $7,168,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,348 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 5,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $3,118,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on Celanese in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.94.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE traded down $2.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.58. 1,737,133 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,251,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $147.86. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of -3.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (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 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.