BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $55.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential upside of 10.14% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $52.00 target price on shares of Celanese and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.94.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.67. The company had a trading volume of 446,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,835,468. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $55.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.10. Celanese has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $142.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 10.48% and a negative net margin of 16.30%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,168,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 102.4% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,269 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 352,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,391,000 after acquiring an additional 70,703 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 10,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,917 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.