Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $122.00 to $88.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Celanese traded as low as $66.99 and last traded at $67.03, with a volume of 2354418 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.94.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.16. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

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.