Citigroup Cuts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $52.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price trimmed by Citigroup from $58.00 to $52.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.61.

Celanese Stock Down 13.5 %

CE stock opened at $40.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of -2.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Celanese has a 52 week low of $39.62 and a 52 week high of $169.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.53.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 95.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 116.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,396 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 6.8% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 58,586 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 14.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 37,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 29.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.