Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.89.

Celanese Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $51.25 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.56 and a 200-day moving average of $65.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.68, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Celanese has a 12 month low of $36.29 and a 12 month high of $161.94.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 281,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,300,000 after buying an additional 34,658 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the third quarter worth about $179,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,430,000 after purchasing an additional 13,503 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Celanese by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after buying an additional 8,269 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.