Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $64.36 and last traded at $64.88, with a volume of 2651798 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CE shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.33.

Celanese Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.94. 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 has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Celanese by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,286,230,000 after buying an additional 2,036,362 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 608.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 592,196 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 528.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,142,000 after acquiring an additional 219,095 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,145,000 after purchasing an additional 177,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Celanese by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.