Short Interest in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Declines By 6.5%

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,740,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the November 15th total of 5,070,000 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Celanese Price Performance

CE traded down $0.44 during trading on Monday, reaching $68.14. 3,099,566 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,099,555. The company's 50-day moving average is $97.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.12. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Celanese has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. Celanese's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Celanese from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Celanese by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,286,230,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,362 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Celanese by 608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 592,196 shares during 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 grew its position in Celanese by 7.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 177,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Celanese by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,663,000 after acquiring an additional 150,201 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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