Gilford Securities Upgrading Celanese

Gilford Securities is upgrading shares of Celanese CE from Sell to Hold, and raising its estimates as well. In a note to clients, Gilford writes, "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." At last check, shares of CE were up 79 cents to $51.71, a gain of 1.5% on 1.6 million shares.