Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - What's Next?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 553,738 shares changed hands during mid-day 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CE. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.35.

Celanese Stock Down 1.1 %

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 $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $121.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.60.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Celanese by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,899,384 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,560,608,000 after acquiring an additional 90,206 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Celanese by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,286,230,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,362 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Celanese by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,158,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,058,447,000 after acquiring an additional 21,085 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Celanese by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $611,931,000 after acquiring an additional 136,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $353,145,000 after acquiring an additional 177,552 shares in the last quarter. 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.