Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $48.93 and last traded at $48.95, with a volume of 1387205 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.31.

Celanese Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of -3.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.86%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Celanese by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $611,931,000 after buying an additional 136,994 shares during the period. 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 6.5% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,814,000 after buying an additional 9,782 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Celanese by 21.7% during the 3rd 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. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,723,000 after buying an additional 69,606 shares during the period. 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.