Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Increased to $167.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective increased by Citigroup from $150.00 to $167.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on CE. Bank of America lowered shares of Celanese from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Celanese from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $149.22.

Celanese Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $160.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese has a 12-month low of $99.33 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.43. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 92.6% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 142.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 100.0% in 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.

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.