Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 553,738 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the previous session’s volume of 921,081 shares.The stock last traded at $73.77 and had previously closed at $73.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $161.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.59.

Celanese Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.41.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in Celanese by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 0.4% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 27,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.