Celanese (NYSE:CE) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $66.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $45.00. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.32% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research 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.com, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.11.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock traded down $0.08 on Monday, reaching $54.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,527,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,260,207. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of -3.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.13. 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 has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $147.86. The business's 50-day moving average is $49.44 and its 200 day moving average is $58.10.

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

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Celanese by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Celanese by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 46,029 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,165,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 53.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,787 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,804 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.