Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.56.

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $68.58 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $98.61 and its 200 day moving average is $121.89. Celanese has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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 paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Celanese by 27.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,036,362 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Celanese by 608.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,754,000 after buying an additional 592,196 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 528.9% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,142,000 after buying an additional 219,095 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $353,145,000 after buying an additional 177,552 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Celanese by 14.9% in the second 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 last quarter. 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.