Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 26.85% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Vertical Research raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.67.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.13. 294,587 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,008. Celanese has a 1-year low of $45.94 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of -4.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CE. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Celanese by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.2% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group grew its position in Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 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.