Royal Bank of Canada Raises Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $171.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $165.00 to $171.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 10.46% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.56.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $154.81. 158,571 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 713,957. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $99.33 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $157.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.64.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Celanese

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

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CE. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Celanese during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Celanese by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.