Barclays Lowers Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $88.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target cut by Barclays from $101.00 to $88.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler cut Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.59.

Celanese Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $75.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.31. Celanese has a 52 week low of $71.38 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $118.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Celanese’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 13.4% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 464.6% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 264.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 14,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $380,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.