Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.11.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Celanese Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $60.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. Celanese has a 52 week low of $36.29 and a 52 week high of $147.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.14.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth about $3,118,000. Norden Group LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 102.8% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Celanese by 123.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,194 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,037,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $71,823,000 after acquiring an additional 46,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Celanese by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 6,857 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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