Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $72.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $66.00 to $72.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

CE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.72.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock traded down $1.78 during trading on Monday, hitting $59.25. 1,528,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,907,569. Celanese has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $147.85. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of -3.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $55.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.58. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently -0.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Celanese by 13.0% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 15,391,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $873,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,354 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,969,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $274,714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,025 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 134.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,566,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $202,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,662 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 266.7% during the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $242,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at about $222,815,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently 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.