Celanese (NYSE:CE) Cut to “Sell” at Vertical Research

Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $130.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.44.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock opened at $124.81 on Tuesday. Celanese has a 12-month low of $114.05 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.91. The stock has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Celanese will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.94%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 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.