Celanese (NYSE:CE) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Equal Weight

Celanese (NYSE:CE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $115.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $165.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 24.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.59.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $92.44 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.49. Celanese has a 52-week low of $90.51 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.26, a P/E/G 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.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 10.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Celanese by 109.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,011,000 after buying an additional 15,643 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 447.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after buying an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the first quarter valued at $2,442,000. 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.