Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $188.40.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $198.00 to $206.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 11th. Piper Sandler cut Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Celanese from $157.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 target price (down from $185.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Sunday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $167.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 20th.

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.74 per share, for a total transaction of $255,132.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 115.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1,376.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese stock opened at $145.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $144.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.76. Celanese has a 52 week low of $132.26 and a 52 week high of $176.50.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 22.14% and a return on equity of 48.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 43.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Celanese will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 22nd were given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 18th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 16.06%.

About Celanese (Get Rating)

Celanese Corp. engages in the provision of technology and specialty materials businesses. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Materials, Acetate Tow, Acetyl Chain and Other Activities. The Engineered Materials segment includes the engineered materials business, food ingredients business and certain strategic affiliates.

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