BMO Capital Markets Cuts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $138.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from $142.00 to $138.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $157.87.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $126.50. 942,085 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,474. Celanese has a 1 year low of $110.76 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $138.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.62. 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 earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $0.70 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $256,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $951,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $778,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $286,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.