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

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $51.00 to $66.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the basic materials company's stock. UBS Group's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.79% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.33.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $1.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 115,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,292,965. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.80. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $36.29 and a fifty-two week high of $147.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of -3.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. Celanese's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.0% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 15,391,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $873,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,354 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 105.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 134.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,566,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,662 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 266.7% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $242,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $222,815,000. 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.