Celanese (NYSE:CE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on CE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $50.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.94.

Celanese Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $48.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.72. Celanese has a twelve month low of $35.13 and a twelve month high of $70.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.45.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 2.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 27th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter worth about $614,675,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,547,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $167,565,000 after buying an additional 391,204 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Celanese by 83.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,187,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,849,000 after buying an additional 993,193 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,580,000. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in Celanese by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 836,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,032,000 after buying an additional 65,155 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global chemicals and specialty materials company that develops and manufactures engineered polymers and acetyl-based products. Its materials are used in applications across industries including automotive, consumer goods, medical, industrial, paints and coatings, and adhesives.

The company’s portfolio includes engineered thermoplastics and other polymers, as well as acetyl products such as acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer, and related emulsions and derivatives.