Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $116.56.

CE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp cut shares of Celanese from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,360,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,241. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) 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). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. Celanese's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Celanese by 27.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,286,230,000 after buying an additional 2,036,362 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 608.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $93,754,000 after purchasing an additional 592,196 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 528.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,142,000 after purchasing an additional 219,095 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $353,145,000 after purchasing an additional 177,552 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Celanese by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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.