Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Cut to $40.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CE. KeyCorp set a $70.00 target price on Celanese and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $52.00 target price on Celanese and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.94.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $42.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Celanese has a 12 month low of $36.29 and a 12 month high of $142.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.19 and a 200-day moving average of $53.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 10.48% and a negative net margin of 16.30%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently -0.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.