Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $71.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Celanese traded as low as $36.29 and last traded at $43.92, with a volume of 6191340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.49.

CE has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.33.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 739.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.73, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's fifty day moving average is $53.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. On average, analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.86%.

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.