Celanese (NYSE:CE) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $54.25 and last traded at $55.54, with a volume of 2201966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on CE shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.53.

Celanese Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.67.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -20.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CKW Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.