Celanese (NYSE:CE) Raised to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $66.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $45.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.11.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $56.21 on Monday. Celanese has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $147.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.01 and a 200-day moving average of $58.15. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.79%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 now owns 15,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 122.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Celanese by 127.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Company Profile

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.