Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $88.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $122.00 to $88.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Vertical Research lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE opened at $67.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.38 and a 200-day moving average of $119.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese has a twelve month low of $66.99 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $611,931,000 after purchasing an additional 136,994 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Celanese by 155.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its holdings in Celanese by 6.5% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in Celanese by 21.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 41,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.