Celanese (NYSE:CE) Shares Up 6.7% - What's Next?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.08 and last traded at $71.87. Approximately 558,439 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,959,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CE shares. UBS Group cut Celanese from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp cut shares of Celanese from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Celanese Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.59. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.15, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Celanese by 27.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 608.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 592,196 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Celanese by 528.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,142,000 after acquiring an additional 219,095 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 177,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Celanese by 14.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.