Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 3,371,735 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 305% from the previous session’s volume of 833,282 shares.The stock last traded at $92.00 and had previously closed at $91.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.59.

Celanese Trading Up 1.6 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $128.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.26, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.24 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 3.1% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Celanese by 13.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 20.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 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.