Barclays Maintains an 'Overweight' on Celanese (CE); A Reassuring Visit with Departing CEO Dave Weidman

Barclays maintains an 'Overweight' on Celanese (NYSE: CE) price target of $49.00.

Barclays analyst says, "5 points on CE after chatting with CEO Dave Weidman in Texas last week: 1) Mr. Weidman's retirement is a meaningful hit to CE as he was at the top of our list of outstanding chemical CEOs, 2) Incoming CEO Mark Rohr is very good and he knows CE well from his 5 years on the board. 3) We would not expect much of a change in overall strategy with the change in CEO. 4) Mr. Weidman still has conviction in the story as he is set to remain a significant share holder even after he steps down. 5) The fact that the incoming CEO (with knowledge as a board member) and the outgoing CEO both want to get/keep significant leverage via stock is a positive in our mind."

"We revise our EPS estimates for 4Q'11 to $0.86 from $0.89, 2012 to $4.95
and $4.90. We also initiate a 2013 EPS forecast of $5.60."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Celanese click here. For more ratings news on Celanese click here.

Shares of Celanese closed at $44.05 yesterday.

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Celanese Corp. (CE) Appoints Kim K.W. Rucker to its Board
• Craig-Hallum Assumes DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. (DMAC) at Buy
• Day One Biopharmaceuticals (DAWN) PT Raised to $38 at Jones Trading on OJEMDA approval, sees $900M peak sales