Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Celanese Put Options (NYSE:CE)

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 11,714 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 317% compared to the typical volume of 2,810 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on Celanese from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Celanese by 155.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 23,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 14,184 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Celanese by 71.1% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,873 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares during the period. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Celanese by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 58,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,047,000 after buying an additional 10,798 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Celanese by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 45,142 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,124,000 after buying an additional 2,734 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.75. 5,294,084 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,717,930. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of -3.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $51.24 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.67.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -20.10%.

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.