Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 2,097,268 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 88% from the previous session’s volume of 1,113,487 shares.The stock last traded at $67.52 and had previously closed at $67.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $122.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

Celanese Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 6.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (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%. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Celanese by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $611,931,000 after buying an additional 136,994 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Celanese by 155.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,049,000 after acquiring an additional 130,037 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Celanese by 21.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 41,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 7.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after buying an additional 69,606 shares during 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.