Celanese (NYSE:CE) PT Raised to $180.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target suggests a potential upside of 11.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.78.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $161.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.45. Celanese has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. 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 analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Celanese will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Celanese by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 0.6% during the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 13,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Celanese by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.