Brokerages Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Target Price at $66.67

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.94.

Several analysts have issued reports on CE shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup raised shares of Celanese to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $58.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of -4.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.93 and a 200-day moving average of $85.02. Celanese has a 52-week low of $45.94 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. On average, analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.86%.

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.