Brokerages Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) PT at $152.87

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $151.44.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $163.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Vertical Research cut Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter worth about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its position in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

CE opened at $127.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. Celanese has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Celanese will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

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.