Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $120.59.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CE shares. KeyCorp cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $74.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $71.38 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.56. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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%. Celanese’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 128.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other 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.