Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CE. Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp cut Celanese from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Celanese from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Celanese from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.22.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $67.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,643,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,206. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $64.05 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm's 50 day moving average is $73.02 and its 200-day moving average is $111.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 4.16%. Celanese's payout ratio is 28.17%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 128.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Celanese by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 1,395.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the 3rd quarter worth $89,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently 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.