Short Interest in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Decreases By 8.8%

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,070,000 shares, a decline of 8.8% from the October 31st total of 5,560,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Celanese Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CE stock traded up $1.10 on Monday, reaching $74.31. 882,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,011,309. Celanese has a 1-year low of $71.38 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $111.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.55.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Celanese 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CE. Bank of America dropped their target price on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.59.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Key Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.