Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 2,097,268 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 88% from the previous session’s volume of 1,113,487 shares.The stock last traded at $67.52 and had previously closed at $67.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

Celanese Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.79. The stock has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business 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 posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Key Financial Inc lifted 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 buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.