Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Short Interest Down 5.2% in August

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,600,000 shares, a decrease of 5.2% from the July 31st total of 5,910,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Celanese Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:CE opened at $128.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.32. Celanese has a one year low of $86.71 and a one year high of $129.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.29). Celanese had a return on equity of 17.68% and a net margin of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $123.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Celanese from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, 22nd Century Group reaffirmed a “downgrade” rating on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.13.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth $602,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Celanese by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 61,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,166,000 after buying an additional 11,150 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in Celanese by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,354,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,845,000 after buying an additional 379,962 shares during the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $703,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,879,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,593,000 after acquiring an additional 152,164 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. The company 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.