Celanese (NYSE:CE) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $49.00. The stock had previously closed at $47.42, but opened at $40.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Celanese shares last traded at $41.81, with a volume of 2,208,193 shares trading hands.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on CE. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho increased their price target on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.56.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 73.2% during the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the first quarter valued at $30,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Celanese by 122.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Celanese by 55.4% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Down 13.0%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 10.23% and a negative net margin of 16.30%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is -0.79%.

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.