Celanese (NYSE:CE) PT Raised to $190.00 at KeyCorp

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price increased by KeyCorp from $176.00 to $190.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Celanese from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Celanese from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $148.00.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $166.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese has a 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought 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 owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,879,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in Celanese by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,168,000 after buying an additional 36,701 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Celanese by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,812,000 after buying an additional 10,775 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Celanese by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 131,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,590,000 after buying an additional 16,253 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.