Celanese (NYSE:CE) Reaches New 12-Month High at $169.64

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $169.64 and last traded at $168.72, with a volume of 48376 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $167.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CE. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Alembic Global Advisors cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.28.

Celanese Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $152.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CE. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $953,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,099 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at about $155,102,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,758 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after purchasing an additional 570,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after purchasing an additional 468,003 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.