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

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price trimmed by Mizuho from $132.00 to $120.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $163.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Celanese Trading Down 26.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $91.00 on Tuesday. Celanese has a 52 week low of $90.51 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $128.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 5.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Celanese will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the second quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the first quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.