Zacks Research Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) – Zacks Research cut their Q2 2023 EPS estimates for Celanese in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, May 23rd. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now expects that the basic materials company will post earnings of $2.50 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.93. The consensus estimate for Celanese’s current full-year earnings is $11.26 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Celanese’s Q4 2023 earnings at $3.33 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $11.06 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.85 EPS and Q1 2025 earnings at $3.98 EPS.

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

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $146.00 in a report on Thursday, May 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Celanese from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.77.

Celanese Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:CE opened at $107.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.67. Celanese has a 1 year low of $86.71 and a 1 year high of $161.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.45 and a 200-day moving average of $109.42.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 19th. The shares were purchased 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,060,332.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $101.69 per share, for a total transaction of $102,503.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,179,298.93. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 4,208 shares of company stock valued at $457,664. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,774,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,559,000 after purchasing an additional 131,705 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,104,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $773,605,000 after purchasing an additional 142,516 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,094,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $445,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,456 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,464,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $268,377,000 after acquiring an additional 12,004 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 1.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,124,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,810,000 after purchasing an additional 27,670 shares during the period. 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.