Analysts Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) PT at $147.22

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.22.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CE. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $155.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.28. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $99.33 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Celanese by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $953,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,099 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $155,102,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Celanese by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,758 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after purchasing an additional 570,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Celanese by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after purchasing an additional 468,003 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.