Gilford Securities Upgrades Celanese To Hold

Gilford Securities upgraded Celanese CE from Sell to Hold in a research report published today. In the report, Gilford Securities states, "We are upgrading our rating on CE shares from SELL to HOLD, for two reasons. First, we have raised our 2011-12 EPS estimates. For this year, the increase is from $4.01 to $4.35, and next year, from $4.58 to $5. Reasons include much better acetic acid pricing and margins, plus a much lower tax rate than we had expected. Second, the company's new TCX ethanol process, which will have a beneficial impact post-2013. Possibly by mid-2015 but more likely later, this new investment could add up to $400 mm a year to EBITDA, off a 2013 base of about $1.7 billion, a meaningful boost to long-term growth." Shares of Celanese were trading at $51.68 at the time of posting, up 1.49% from Friday's market close.