Two Sigma Investments LP Raises Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 1,221.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,770 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 75,581 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.07% of Celanese worth $5,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,263 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at $474,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 266.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Celanese by 122.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Celanese by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 58,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 10,798 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.81. 793,126 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,267,242. The firm has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of -3.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.88. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $152.50.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. Celanese's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CE. BMO Capital Markets raised Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $48.00 price target (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.94.

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.