Celanese (NYSE:CE) Shares Up 6.7% – Should You Buy?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) rose 6.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.08 and last traded at $71.87. Approximately 558,439 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,959,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $122.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Celanese Trading Up 5.1 %

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 cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.12, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.59.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 128.8% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Celanese by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1,395.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the third quarter valued at $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.