Celanese (NYSE:CE) Price Target Raised to $105.00 at Piper Sandler

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) had its target price boosted by Piper Sandler from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $152.00 to $146.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $127.38.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE opened at $108.00 on Tuesday. Celanese has a 1-year low of $86.71 and a 1-year high of $161.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 6.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.12). Celanese had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.91 earnings per share. Celanese’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese will post 11.55 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.12%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,200 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $117.15 per share, for a total transaction of $140,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,240,501.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 57,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after buying an additional 17,268 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 132.3% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 23,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,358,000 after buying an additional 13,131 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 490,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,135,000 after buying an additional 16,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.54% of the company’s stock.

About Celanese

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Celanese Corp. engages in the provision of technology and specialty materials businesses. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Materials, Acetate Tow, Acetyl Chain and Other Activities. The Engineered Materials segment includes the engineered materials business, food ingredients business and certain strategic affiliates.