Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $62.00 Price Target at Barclays

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $59.00 to $62.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CE. Citigroup cut their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.06.

Celanese Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of CE opened at $52.41 on Wednesday. Celanese has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $161.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of -3.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter worth approximately $223,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 169.9% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 21,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,462 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Celanese by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 57,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,250,000 after acquiring an additional 20,595 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in Celanese by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 15,391,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 6,533.5% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 392,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,267,000 after acquiring an additional 386,325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.