Celanese (NYSE:CE) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Celanese (NYSE:CE) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on CE. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Celanese from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.53.

Celanese Stock Down 4.4 %

NYSE CE traded down $2.41 on Thursday, hitting $52.51. 6,256,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,639,866. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $51.51 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.67. 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 company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of -3.77, a PEG ratio of 1.39 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.01% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in shares of Celanese by 122.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CKW Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 185 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.