Celanese (CE) Set To Increase Prices Of Emulsion Polymers

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) will hike the list and off-list selling prices of certain products. The price hike will be effective from Oct 1 or as contracts permit.

In the United States and Canada, the company will increase the prices of Vinyl Acetate Ethylene, VAM Homopolymers, VAM Copolymers, Styrene Acrylics and Pure Acrylics by 5 cents/lb. Prices of these products will rise by $110/MT in South America.

Celanese is taking appropriate pricing actions amid a volatile raw material pricing environment. Pricing improvement drove margins in its Acetyl Chain unit in second-quarter 2017.

Celanese has outperformed the industry over a year. The company’s shares have moved up around 61.7% over this period compared with roughly 29.4% gain recorded by the industry.

Celanese kept its earnings streak alive with a beat in second-quarter 2017. The company logged adjusted earnings of $1.79 per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.74. Celanese sees adjusted earnings per share to increase 9-11% in 2017.

Celanese’s strategic measures including cost savings through productivity actions and pricing initiatives are expected to lend support to its earnings in 2017. The company is also likely to gain from capacity expansion and growth initiatives like acquisitions. Moreover, Celanese remains focused on returning value to shareholders.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Celanese currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the chemical space are The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) , FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) .

Chemours has expected long-term earnings growth of 15.5% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

FMC has expected long-term earnings growth of 11.3% and flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.

Air Products has expected long-term earnings growth of 12.1% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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