Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $180.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup increased their target price 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. reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $160.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $159.41.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $135.89 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $150.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.66. The firm has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. 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 has a 52-week low of $109.38 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. Celanese’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Celanese will post 11.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 35,898 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position 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 last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,879,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,910,000 after buying an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 66,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,254,000 after acquiring an additional 22,000 shares during the period. 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.