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

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has decreased Celanese's stock price target from $55.00 to $47.00, maintaining a "market perform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 14.10% from its current price.
• Wells Fargo cut its price target on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00, while several other firms have also reduced their targets, indicating a general pessimism among analysts regarding the stock's performance.
• The company's shares opened at $41.19, reflecting a 1.5% decline, while Celanese reported a negative net margin of 16.30% and a 12-month low of $36.29.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its target price lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $55.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CE. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Celanese from $67.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Celanese from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Celanese from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.94.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE traded up $1.6950 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.8050. 1,157,887 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,829,615. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.32. Celanese has a 1-year low of $36.29 and a 1-year high of $142.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 10.48% and a negative net margin of 16.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Celanese's payout ratio is presently -0.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the purchase, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 182.1% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,081,458 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $281,157,000 after buying an additional 3,280,109 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 266.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,550,334 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 4,506.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,344,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $162,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,764 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth about $114,934,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 134.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,044,662 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Company Profile

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.