Celanese (NYSE:CE) Trading 7.9% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)’s share price traded up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $52.84 and last traded at $52.01. 744,057 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,134,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.31.

Celanese Stock Up 9.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,618,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $942,506,000 after purchasing an additional 6,818,993 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 27.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,286,230,000 after buying an additional 2,036,362 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Celanese by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $611,931,000 after buying an additional 136,994 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Celanese by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,969,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $274,714,000 after buying an additional 2,033,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 266.7% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,681,000 after acquiring an additional 2,550,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

About Celanese

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.