Lifeworks Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 63.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,166 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,618,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $942,506,000 after buying an additional 6,818,993 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $222,815,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 266.7% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $242,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550,334 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 4,506.7% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,344,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $162,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,293,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Celanese by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,969,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $274,714,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,025 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $1.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.66. 1,419,327 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,648,839. The firm's fifty day moving average is $56.38 and its 200-day moving average is $56.13. 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 52 week low of $36.29 and a 52 week high of $144.59. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.85, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.14.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.50.

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.