51,677 Celanese Corporation $CE Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Celanese stake by 94.2%, selling 51,677 shares in the third quarter and retaining 3,160 shares valued at approximately $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 98.87% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $60.38, despite several firms lowering their targets. Celanese shares recently opened at $49.28.
• Celanese reported quarterly earnings of $2.45 per share, beating estimates of $2.23, while revenue reached $2.75 billion and rose 8.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share.

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 94.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,160 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 51,677 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 6,348 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Celanese during the third quarter worth approximately $19,131,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Celanese by 6,975.0% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 849 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 757.7% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 669 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the third quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Murray acquired 2,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.52 per share, with a total value of $98,004.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 30,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,385,264.64. This trade represents a 7.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CE. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $50.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Celanese in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.38.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $49.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. Celanese Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.13 and a twelve month high of $70.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.71.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 13.04% and a negative net margin of 12.04%. The company's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 27th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -1.12%.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation NYSE: CE is a global chemical and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company develops and manufactures engineered materials and chemical products used by manufacturers in industries including automotive, consumer goods, medical and healthcare, electronics, industrial equipment, energy and infrastructure.

Celanese operates primarily through its Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain businesses. Its portfolio includes engineered polymers, thermoplastic compounds and other specialty materials, as well as acetyl products such as acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer, emulsions and related intermediates.

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