Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $88.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $122.00 to $88.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company's stock.

CE has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group cut Celanese from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler downgraded 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.50.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $67.03. 2,354,483 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,117,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business's 50 day moving average price is $94.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 6.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese has a 1-year low of $66.99 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Celanese by 124.0% during 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 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.