Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $149.56.

A number of research firms have commented on CE. StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of 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 other Celanese 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 value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Celanese by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Celanese by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 0.6% during the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 13,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Celanese by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,028,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Up 0.5 %

CE stock opened at $157.17 on Friday. Celanese has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.24.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.