Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $100.00 to $73.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CE. UBS Group cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.39.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $67.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84, 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 quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.74 and its 200 day moving average is $120.16. Celanese has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Celanese by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $611,931,000 after purchasing an additional 136,994 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 155.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,049,000 after acquiring an additional 130,037 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in Celanese by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,814,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in Celanese by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 41,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 7.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.