Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Forecasted to Post Q3 2023 Earnings of $3.22 Per Share

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q3 2023 EPS estimates for Celanese in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, May 23rd. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now forecasts that the basic materials company will earn $3.22 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $3.59. The consensus estimate for Celanese’s current full-year earnings is $11.26 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Celanese’s Q1 2024 earnings at $2.87 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $2.92 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.88 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $11.52 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $13.98 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $146.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $113.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $146.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.77.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $106.26 on Thursday. Celanese has a 1-year low of $86.71 and a 1-year high of $161.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.32. The firm has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.54 earnings per share.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $107.29 per share, with a total value of $214,580.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,165 shares in the company, valued at $5,060,332.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $107.29 per share, with a total value of $214,580.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,165 shares in the company, valued at $5,060,332.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $117.15 per share, for a total transaction of $140,580.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $1,240,501.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 4,208 shares of company stock valued at $457,664 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 37,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.54% of the company’s stock.

About Celanese

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Celanese Corp. engages in the provision of technology and specialty materials businesses. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Materials, Acetate Tow, Acetyl Chain and Other Activities. The Engineered Materials segment includes the engineered materials business, food ingredients business and certain strategic affiliates.