Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $66.67 and last traded at $66.77, with a volume of 898026 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler cut 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 report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Celanese from $122.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Five investment 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.50.

Celanese Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 6.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released 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 company 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1,395.3% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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.