Celanese (NYSE:CE) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company's revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. Celanese updated its Q2 2024 guidance to 2.600-3.000 EPS.

Celanese Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CE traded down $1.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $161.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,481,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,726. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Celanese has a 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's 50 day moving average is $160.09 and its 200 day moving average is $147.45.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Celanese from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $160.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.