Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Short Interest Update

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,190,000 shares, a decline of 14.3% from the March 31st total of 7,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Celanese during the first quarter worth about $259,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 46.5% during the first quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 8,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 2,578.9% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 88,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,028,000 after purchasing an additional 85,258 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Celanese by 157.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 132,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,498,000 after purchasing an additional 80,846 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Celanese by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $45.83 on Friday. Celanese has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $169.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.58. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Celanese from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.33.

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.