Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $101.00 to $88.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Celanese traded as low as $71.50 and last traded at $72.18, with a volume of 112106 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CE. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Celanese in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $118.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.00.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

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.