UBS Group Downgrades Celanese (NYSE:CE) to Neutral

Celanese (NYSE:CE) was downgraded by UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $97.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $161.00. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.13% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Celanese from $151.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.35.

Celanese Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $75.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $75.26 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $124.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.32.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced 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). The firm 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%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 3.1% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.