Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Lowered to $73.00 at Citigroup

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $100.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.39.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $67.94 on Wednesday. Celanese has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $94.74 and its 200 day moving average is $120.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Celanese by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $611,931,000 after buying an additional 136,994 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Celanese by 155.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,049,000 after acquiring an additional 130,037 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Celanese by 6.5% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,814,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Celanese by 21.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 41,598 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by 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.