Brokerages Set Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Target Price at $153.13

Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $153.13.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CE shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Celanese from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,649 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 3,177 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 11,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,995 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE traded down $0.94 on Tuesday, reaching $135.02. 689,643 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 783,973. The firm has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese has a 12 month low of $110.76 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $129.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 10.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Celanese's payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

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.