Mizuho Cuts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $86.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective lowered by Mizuho from $120.00 to $86.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Vertical Research lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.56.

Celanese Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:CE opened at $70.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $105.19 and a 200 day moving average of $124.79. Celanese has a 1-year low of $68.88 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 13.4% in the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 20.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Celanese by 0.4% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 27,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.