Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Lowered to $128.00 at Bank of America

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective trimmed by Bank of America from $137.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $155.13.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $126.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,959. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $137.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.53. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.89, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese has a 1-year low of $110.76 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in Celanese by 18.7% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 24,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 7.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 29.6% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its stake in Celanese by 279.7% in the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 9,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 7,304 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Celanese by 43.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 184,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,930,000 after acquiring an additional 55,663 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is 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.