Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $54.25 and last traded at $55.54, with a volume of 2201966 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on CE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America raised Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Celanese Trading Down 21.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.72. The stock has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.11 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.17%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 122.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in Celanese by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.