Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective raised by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Alembic Global Advisors raised Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.94.

Celanese Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $58.30 on Thursday. Celanese has a 52-week low of $45.94 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.02. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Celanese Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 45.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Celanese by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 107,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 8.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 65,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the third quarter worth $102,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.