Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 5.13% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CE. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Monday. Citigroup cut their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.89.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE traded up $4.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.17. The stock had a trading volume of 3,065,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,493,369. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of -3.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. Celanese has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $169.49.

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

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in Celanese by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.