Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price decreased by Robert W. Baird from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $157.87.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $126.43 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $138.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.73. Celanese has a 1-year low of $110.76 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 16.0% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 255.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Celanese by 2.6% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 17,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 3,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.