Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $66.67 and last traded at $66.77, with a volume of 898026 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $122.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.50.

Celanese Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.17 and a 200 day moving average of $113.96.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid 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 4.23%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Celanese by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,286,230,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,362 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Celanese by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $611,931,000 after purchasing an additional 136,994 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,145,000 after buying an additional 177,552 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,663,000 after buying an additional 150,201 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after buying an additional 69,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.