Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price

Celanese (NYSE:CE) had its price objective decreased by Robert W. Baird from $150.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.18.

Celanese Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $89.72 on Wednesday. Celanese has a 12 month low of $89.12 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $127.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Celanese will post 10.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CE. 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 during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the second quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the first quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the second quarter worth $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by 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.