Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Rating Lowered by BMO Capital Markets

Celanese (NYSE:CE) was downgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $76.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $138.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential downside of 10.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CE. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.35.

Celanese Trading Down 5.5 %

NYSE:CE opened at $84.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.31. Celanese has a 52 week low of $84.75 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $126.33 and a 200 day moving average of $136.40.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 10.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 14,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after purchasing an additional 4,552 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the third quarter worth approximately $397,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Celanese by 8.8% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Celanese by 608.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,754,000 after buying an additional 592,196 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.