Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Cut to $50.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price trimmed by Piper Sandler from $77.00 to $50.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on CE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.31.

Celanese Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of CE stock opened at $54.43 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.72. Celanese has a 1-year low of $50.82 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of -3.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Celanese by 6.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 78,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,712,000 after buying an additional 4,794 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the third quarter worth about $16,080,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Celanese by 1,074.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,915,000 after buying an additional 19,613 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Celanese by 8.8% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 6,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Celanese by 17.9% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 21,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.