Wells Fargo & Company Raises Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $72.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $66.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.20% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Celanese Stock Down 3.0%

CE stock opened at $57.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Celanese has a 12 month low of $36.29 and a 12 month high of $147.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of -3.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.14.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 122.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 739.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.