Celanese (NYSE:CE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Celanese (NYSE:CE) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Celanese updated its Q2 2024 guidance to 2.600-3.000 EPS.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $161.42. 1,481,442 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 699,725. Celanese has a one year low of $99.33 and a one year high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $159.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.35.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.