Morgan Stanley Lowers Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $100.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.12.

Celanese Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $84.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $126.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.53. Celanese has a 1 year low of $84.75 and a 1 year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Celanese will post 10.24 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 12,553 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Celanese by 14.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,011,000 after purchasing an additional 15,643 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Celanese by 21.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 41,598 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 447.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 264.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after buying an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.