Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $167.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $168.00 to $167.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $157.87.

Celanese Stock Up 0.1 %

Celanese stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $126.50. 942,085 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,474. Celanese has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $138.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Celanese will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 255.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by 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.