Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $122.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $163.00 to $122.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 43.92% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Vertical Research cut Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.12.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $84.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $126.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.67. Celanese has a one year low of $84.75 and a one year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. Celanese’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Celanese will post 10.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 128.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

About Celanese

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.