Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $55.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $46.00. BMO Capital Markets' price target points to a potential upside of 4.84% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.94.

Celanese Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE CE traded down $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,409,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,198,945. Celanese has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $153.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $48.11 and its 200 day moving average is $60.56. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of -3.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Celanese's revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Celanese by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group grew its position in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 73.2% during the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.