Analysts Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) PT at $152.87

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $151.44.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Celanese Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $124.81 on Friday. Celanese has a 52 week low of $114.05 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Celanese will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.94%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Celanese by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,899,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,560,608,000 after purchasing an additional 90,206 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Celanese by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,158,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,058,447,000 after buying an additional 21,085 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Celanese by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,663,000 after buying an additional 150,201 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Celanese by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,085,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $146,426,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 14.1% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 378,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,057,000 after buying an additional 46,732 shares in the last quarter. 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.