Celanese (NYSE:CE) Reaches New 12-Month High at $169.64

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $169.64 and last traded at $168.72, with a volume of 48376 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $167.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.28.

Celanese Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $152.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.35.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Celanese by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,300,907,000 after acquiring an additional 468,003 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,031,776,000 after purchasing an additional 354,367 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,761,567,000 after purchasing an additional 329,740 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,774,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $846,559,000 after purchasing an additional 131,705 shares during the last quarter. 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.