Celanese (NYSE:CE) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $50.00. Piper Sandler currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Celanese traded as low as $50.82 and last traded at $52.88, with a volume of 4729774 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.76.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup upgraded Celanese to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 5.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Neumann Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Neumann Capital Management LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Celanese by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The company 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.86%.

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.