Celanese (NYSE:CE) Updates Q3 Earnings Guidance

Celanese (NYSE:CE) issued an update on its third quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.75-3.00 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $3.19. Celanese also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 10.250-10.750 EPS.

Celanese Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE CE traded down $6.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,558,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,015. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.24. The stock has a market cap of $14.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.42). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Celanese will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $162.75.

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.