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

BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $76.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $138.00.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research cut Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on Celanese from $151.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.35.

Celanese Stock Down 0.1 %

CE stock opened at $73.94 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $123.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $72.94 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 6.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. 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.