Piper Sandler Cuts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $77.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target lowered by Piper Sandler from $98.00 to $77.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.33.

Celanese Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $64.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. Celanese has a 52-week low of $64.36 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.27. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.53, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in Celanese by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 8,269 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Celanese by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 148.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,430,000 after buying an additional 13,503 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.