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

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $70.76 and last traded at $70.82, with a volume of 323979 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Vertical Research cut Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.59.

Celanese Stock Down 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.38.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the first quarter worth about $1,229,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 64.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,659,000 after acquiring an additional 10,587 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 2.1% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 17,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,911,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 17.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.