Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Lowered to $163.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $167.00 to $163.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CE has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $152.87.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock opened at $136.18 on Friday. Celanese has a twelve month low of $110.76 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.85 and its 200-day moving average is $142.29.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other 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 transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 14.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,011,000 after purchasing an additional 15,643 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 447.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Celanese by 41.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,071,000 after buying an additional 37,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Celanese by 264.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after buying an additional 14,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.