Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 16,779 Shares of Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Celanese Corporation by 75.4%, leaving it with 5,465 shares valued at approximately $310,000.
• Celanese reported a quarterly EPS of $1.44, beating estimates, with a revenue of $2.53 billion, despite a 4.5% decline year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings for Celanese show a consensus of "Hold" with an average target price of $57.22, indicating cautious sentiment among equity researchers.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 75.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,465 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,779 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Celanese were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $292,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth approximately $907,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Celanese by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Celanese by 55.1% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 33,508 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 11,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 42,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Trading Down 0.7%

CE traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.11. 2,195,392 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,775,679. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.11. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.85 and a 200 day moving average of $51.04. Celanese Corporation has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $142.54.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.30% and a positive return on equity of 10.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is -0.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Go acquired 1,039 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $48,053.75. Following the acquisition, the director owned 4,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,193.75. This trade represents a 30.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Celanese and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $63.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $47.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.22.

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.