Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Celanese Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with two sell ratings, eleven hold ratings, and six buy ratings issued.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.44, beating estimates, although revenues for the quarter were down 4.5% year-over-year.
• Recent insider trading activity includes a purchase by Director Timothy Go, who increased his holdings in Celanese by 30.78% with the acquisition of over 1,000 shares.

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.2222.

A number of research analysts have commented on CE shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Celanese from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Celanese from $55.00 to $47.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 14th.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $44.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $50.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.12. Celanese has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $142.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.11.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 10.48% and a negative net margin of 16.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently -0.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, Director Timothy Go bought 1,039 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $48,053.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,415 shares in the company, valued at $204,193.75. The trade was a 30.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 182.1% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,081,458 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $281,157,000 after buying an additional 3,280,109 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Celanese in the second quarter valued at about $114,934,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Celanese by 134.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,566,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,662 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in Celanese by 13.0% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 15,391,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $873,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,572,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently 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.

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