TrueMark Investments LLC Invests $293,000 in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,161 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 5.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 91.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,766,000 after purchasing an additional 60,621 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,168,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,118,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Celanese by 87.3% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 26,276 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 12,248 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE CE traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $56.87. 2,836,429 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,264,809. Celanese Corporation has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $147.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.13. The business's 50-day moving average price is $51.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.42.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.79%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.11.

About Celanese

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.