Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 553,738 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the previous session’s volume of 921,081 shares.The stock last traded at $73.77 and had previously closed at $73.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CE. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.59.

Celanese Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.41.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 20.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Celanese by 0.4% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 27,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors 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.