Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has reduced Celanese's price target from $47.00 to $43.00, indicating a potential downside of 11.66% from its previous close.
• As of now, Celanese has an average rating of "Hold" among analysts, with six Buy ratings, eleven Hold ratings, and two Sell ratings.
• Celanese reported a quarterly EPS of $1.44, beating expectations, but also noted a 4.5% year-over-year revenue decline.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $43.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price points to a potential downside of 5.91% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Celanese from $63.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $60.00 price objective on Celanese in a research report on Monday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Celanese from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho upped 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, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.22.

Celanese Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE CE traded down $1.17 on Monday, reaching $45.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,014,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,897,838. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Celanese has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $142.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, Director Timothy Go purchased 1,039 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.25 per share, with a total value of $48,053.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,193.75. This trade represents a 30.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 182.1% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,081,458 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $281,157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,109 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Celanese by 266.7% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $242,681,000 after buying an additional 2,550,334 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Celanese in the second quarter valued at about $114,934,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Celanese by 134.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,566,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,455,000 after buying an additional 2,044,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in Celanese by 13.0% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 15,391,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $873,771,000 after buying an additional 1,773,354 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.