Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $100.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.59.

Celanese Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, hitting $91.73. 639,129 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 839,035. The company has a fifty day moving average of $128.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.49. Celanese has a one year low of $90.51 and a one year high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Celanese will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.94%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter worth about $363,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 204.2% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter worth $1,168,000. 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.