Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) SVP Mark Christopher Murray Buys 1,479 Shares of Stock

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Celanese Trading Down 3.0%

CE stock traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,742,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,214,645. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.73. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $36.29 and a 1-year high of $152.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently -0.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 157.8% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 6,197 shares during the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $768,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 91.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,766,000 after acquiring an additional 60,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 281,709 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $38,300,000 after purchasing an additional 34,658 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CE shares. Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Celanese from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.