Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CE. Barclays lifted their target price on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Celanese from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 target price on Celanese in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.33.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $61.02. 814,034 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,306,969. Celanese has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $147.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.01, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 11.28% and a negative net margin of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional lifted its position in Celanese by 39.4% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,347 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Celanese by 52.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 137,060 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,584,000 after purchasing an additional 47,378 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 9.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 14.7% in the second quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 6,639 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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.