Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Cut to $72.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $88.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.00.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $52.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of -3.80, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.23. Celanese has a twelve month low of $50.82 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is -0.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group grew its position in Celanese by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 739.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in 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.