Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Lowered to $49.00 at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has lowered its price target for Celanese from $66.00 to $49.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating, which suggests an 18.36% potential upside from its current price.
• The stock has experienced a 12.7% decline recently, trading at $41.40 amid significant trading volume.
• Despite the downgrade from UBS Group, multiple analysts have issued conflicting ratings, with the average rating remaining at "Hold" and a typical price target around $65.56.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by stock analysts at UBS Group from $66.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the basic materials company's stock. UBS Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.36% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Celanese from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.56.

Celanese Stock Down 12.7%

NYSE CE traded down $6.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,894,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of -2.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $55.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.36. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $36.29 and a fifty-two week high of $142.54.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Celanese by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Celanese by 73.2% during the 1st 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. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,263 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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