Brokerages Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Price Target at $153.13

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.13.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CE shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $133.90 on Tuesday. Celanese has a twelve month low of $110.76 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.65.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Celanese will post 10.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Celanese by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after buying an additional 12,553 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Celanese by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,011,000 after purchasing an additional 15,643 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Celanese by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,071,000 after purchasing an additional 37,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 264.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.