Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $147.22.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CE shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on Celanese from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 11.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at $312,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at $272,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 466,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE opened at $164.70 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.34 and a 200-day moving average of $142.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese has a 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

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.