Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Receives $161.41 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $161.41.

Several research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $134.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.40, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.14 and a 200 day moving average of $152.87. Celanese has a twelve month low of $107.68 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Celanese will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Celanese by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of 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. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 25.4% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 50,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,354,000 after buying an additional 10,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 37.9% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 5,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 1,576 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.