Celanese (NYSE:CE) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CE. Citigroup upgraded Celanese to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Vertical Research downgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.53.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $52.51 on Thursday. Celanese has a 52 week low of $51.51 and a 52 week high of $172.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.67.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted 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. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.01% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Equities analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CE. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 122.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CKW Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during 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 in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.