Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.31.

Several brokerages have issued reports on CE. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised shares of Celanese to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday.

Celanese Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of CE opened at $50.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.42. Celanese has a twelve month low of $50.51 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.63, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $611,931,000 after purchasing an additional 136,994 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Celanese by 155.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,049,000 after buying an additional 130,037 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management grew its position in Celanese by 6.5% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,814,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Celanese by 21.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 41,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $134,723,000 after buying an additional 69,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.