Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) Position Increased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 340.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,059 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,913 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $1,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Celanese by 122.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 739.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Caption Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CE traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $54.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,527,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,260,207. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.57, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $49.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $147.86.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. 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 0.22%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.79%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Celanese from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Vertical Research upgraded 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.11.

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.