Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $66.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup increased 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.50.

Celanese Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE CE traded up $1.68 during trading on Monday, reaching $58.60. The company had a trading volume of 531,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,227. Celanese has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $147.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of -3.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50-day moving average is $55.70 and its 200 day moving average is $56.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 73.2% in 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. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Celanese by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 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.