Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $149.22.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Celanese by 43.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $155,102,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Celanese by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,325,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,758 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $795,835,000 after purchasing an additional 570,501 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Celanese by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,300,907,000 after purchasing an additional 468,003 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CE opened at $155.78 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.59 and a 200 day moving average of $143.28. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $99.33 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

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.