Barclays Lowers Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $101.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $151.00 to $101.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.12.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $84.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.53. Celanese has a 1-year low of $84.75 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese will post 10.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth $363,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 12,553 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 204.2% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Finally, Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,168,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.