Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Receives $116.56 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.56.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CE. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler lowered Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $68.43 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 6.89, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $611,931,000 after acquiring an additional 136,994 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Celanese by 155.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,049,000 after purchasing an additional 130,037 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Celanese by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Celanese by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after buying an additional 41,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 7.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after buying an additional 69,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.