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

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America cut their target price on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Celanese from $167.00 to $163.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $135.59.

Celanese Trading Up 1.4 %

Celanese stock traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $92.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,533,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,035. The firm has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $128.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.81. Celanese has a 1 year low of $90.51 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm 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 earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's payout ratio is currently 15.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Celanese by 109.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Celanese by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,011,000 after buying an additional 15,643 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,342,000 after buying an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 154.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 31,409 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 19,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.