Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given a $47.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Celanese (NYSE:CE) has been given a $47.00 target price by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CE. UBS Group lowered their target price on Celanese from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $52.00 price objective on Celanese and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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 Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.94.

Celanese Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:CE traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.54. 1,772,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,658,702. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $142.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.64.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 15,391,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,771,000 after buying an additional 1,773,354 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 182.1% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,081,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $281,157,000 after buying an additional 3,280,109 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,828,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $211,845,000 after buying an additional 120,208 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 134.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,566,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $202,455,000 after buying an additional 2,044,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 266.7% in the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,681,000 after buying an additional 2,550,334 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.