Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Vertical Research

Celanese (NYSE:CE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Vertical Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $66.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Vertical Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 19.39% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CE. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.31.

Celanese Stock Up 0.1 %

CE opened at $55.28 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $45.94 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.28 and its 200 day moving average is $92.47. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Celanese by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in Celanese by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 739.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.