Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $88.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $122.00 to $88.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CE. Vertical Research lowered shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

Celanese Stock Down 1.3 %

CE stock opened at $67.03 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.79. The stock has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 6.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $66.99 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 28.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Celanese by 27.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,286,230,000 after buying an additional 2,036,362 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 608.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,754,000 after purchasing an additional 592,196 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 528.9% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,142,000 after purchasing an additional 219,095 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 7.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,145,000 after purchasing an additional 177,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Celanese by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,663,000 after buying an additional 150,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.