Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $148.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective decreased by Citigroup from $167.00 to $148.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their target price on Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays lowered Celanese from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $159.41.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE opened at $134.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.74. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $109.38 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Celanese will post 11.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Celanese by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 35,898 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Celanese by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,168,000 after purchasing an additional 36,701 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the third quarter valued at about $7,879,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after purchasing an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP grew its position in shares of Celanese by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 66,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.