Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $55.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 13.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.44.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $53.56 on Friday. Celanese has a 12 month low of $36.29 and a 12 month high of $157.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of -3.84, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.59.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 122.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.