Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price Up 6.7% – What’s Next?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Free Report) traded up 6.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.08 and last traded at $71.87. 558,439 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,959,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CE. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their target price 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, Bank of America upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Celanese

Celanese Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.89 and a 200 day moving average of $110.59.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the third quarter worth about $89,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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