Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,389,148 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 1,002,179 shares.The stock last traded at $74.27 and had previously closed at $72.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.59.

Celanese Stock Performance

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 company has a 50 day moving average of $112.50 and a 200 day moving average of $128.59. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Celanese by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,286,230,000 after buying an additional 2,036,362 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,145,000 after purchasing an additional 177,552 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Celanese by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Celanese by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,085,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $146,426,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.