Celanese (NYSE:CE) Downgraded by BMO Capital Markets to Underperform

BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $76.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $138.00.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CE. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.35.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $78.61 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $125.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.87. Celanese has a 12 month low of $78.44 and a 12 month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Celanese by 608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 592,196 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 528.9% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,142,000 after purchasing an additional 219,095 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Celanese by 155.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,049,000 after purchasing an additional 130,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 512.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 118,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,064,000 after buying an additional 98,860 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.