Bank of America Corp DE Acquires New Stake in Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 1.36 million Celanese shares worth approximately $62.6 million, representing about 1.24% of the company. Institutional investors collectively owned 98.87% of Celanese.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Celanese receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $63.27, despite several recent target-price cuts and one downgrade to “Hold.”
• Celanese beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.45 in EPS versus a $2.23 estimate and $2.75 billion in revenue. Shares opened at $45.46, while the company guided for third-quarter 2026 EPS of $1.35 to $1.75.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,360,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $62,580,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.24% of Celanese at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 3.6% during the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,587 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in Celanese by 14.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in Celanese by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 7.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,970 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fruth Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 9,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Celanese in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Celanese from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Celanese from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Celanese from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.27.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE opened at $45.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of -4.25, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $45.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.45. Celanese Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.13 and a twelve month high of $70.70.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.22. Celanese had a negative net margin of 12.04% and a positive return on equity of 13.04%. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Celanese Corporation will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Celanese's payout ratio is -1.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark Murray bought 2,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.52 per share, with a total value of $98,004.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 30,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,385,264.64. This trade represents a 7.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Celanese Company Profile

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company develops and manufactures engineered polymers, specialty chemicals and other materials used in a broad range of industries, including automotive, medical, electronics, consumer products, industrial equipment, coatings and packaging.

Celanese operates through two primary businesses: Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Chain. Its engineered materials portfolio includes high-performance thermoplastics, engineered polymers and other specialty compounds used to replace metal and conventional materials in demanding applications.

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