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

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

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $161.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,481,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,725. Celanese has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America cut Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.94.

About Celanese

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.