Celanese (NYSE:CE) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $59.16, but opened at $56.20. Celanese shares last traded at $58.07, with a volume of 402,936 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. KeyCorp raised shares of Celanese from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.94.

Celanese Stock Down 2.8 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.45 and its 200-day moving average is $85.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.13, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Celanese by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 739.1% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.