Brokerages Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Target Price at $161.41

Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $159.41.

Several research firms have weighed in on CE. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday.

Celanese Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of CE stock opened at $134.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $150.06 and its 200-day moving average is $152.68. The stock has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. Celanese has a 52-week low of $109.38 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Celanese will post 11.41 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 142.1% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 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.