Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $60.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its Celanese price target from $65 to $60 but maintained an “overweight” rating; the new target implied 19.88% upside from the article’s cited share price.
• Analyst sentiment remained broadly positive: MarketBeat reported a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $61.56.
• Celanese’s third-quarter EPS of $1.65 beat the $1.56 consensus, while revenue of $2.56 billion fell short of the $2.62 billion estimate.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.88% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on CE. Citigroup increased their price target on Celanese from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $50.00 target price on Celanese in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Celanese from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Celanese in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.56.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE traded up $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $50.05. 276,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,065,164. The business's 50 day moving average is $46.28 and its 200-day moving average is $51.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Celanese has a 1-year low of $35.13 and a 1-year high of $70.70.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Murray acquired 2,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.52 per share, for a total transaction of $98,004.56. Following the purchase, the senior vice president owned 30,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,385,264.64. The trade was a 7.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $245,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its stake in Celanese by 253,354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 27,880 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 27,869 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Celanese by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 65,063 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 18,609 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 35.5% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Key Celanese News

Here are the key news stories impacting Celanese this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets after the results: Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $60 and kept a Buy rating; Citi raised its target to $65 with a Buy rating; JPMorgan raised its target to $77 and maintained Overweight. Barclays raised its target to $57 but retained Equal Weight. Deutsche Bank target update Citi target update JPMorgan target update Barclays target update
• Positive Sentiment: Celanese is targeting $700 million to $800 million in 2027 free cash flow, with cost reductions and lower interest expense expected to contribute. The cash-generation outlook may help ease investor concerns about its debt burden. 2027 free cash flow outlook
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced price increases for select polyamide and polyester products in Asia, a potential support for revenue and margins if customers accept the higher prices. Asia price increases
• Positive Sentiment: Celanese’s partnership with Röchling Industrial aims to expand lower-carbon POM applications, offering potential longer-term opportunities as demand for lower-carbon materials grows. Röchling partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter EPS of $1.65 topped the $1.56 consensus, and shares were reported to gap higher after the results. But revenue of $2.56 billion fell short of the $2.62 billion estimate, leaving a mixed top-line and earnings picture. Shares gap higher after earnings

Celanese Company Profile

Celanese Corporation NYSE: CE is a global chemical and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company develops and manufactures engineered materials and chemical products used by manufacturers in industries including automotive, consumer goods, medical and healthcare, electronics, industrial equipment, energy and infrastructure.

Celanese operates primarily through its Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain businesses. Its portfolio includes engineered polymers, thermoplastic compounds and other specialty materials, as well as acetyl products such as acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer, emulsions and related intermediates.

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