Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Lowered to $47.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $55.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 10.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CE. KeyCorp set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Celanese and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $67.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.94.

Celanese Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CE traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.42. 289,008 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,834,426. Celanese has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $142.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of -2.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.30% and a positive return on equity of 10.48%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 73.2% in 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 in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 122.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 739.1% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.