Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Lowered to $150.00 at Robert W. Baird

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target lowered by Robert W. Baird from $180.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a market perform rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $157.87.

Celanese Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:CE opened at $126.43 on Monday. Celanese has a one year low of $110.76 and a one year high of $172.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.96, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 142.1% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.