Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target to $171.00

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $165.00 to $171.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Celanese from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $149.56.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $154.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese has a 12-month low of $99.33 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Celanese by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,659 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth $363,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 6,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in 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.