Swiss National Bank Reduces Stake in Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Celanese Corporation by 31.4% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.19% of the company worth $12 million after selling 96,782 shares.
• Company insider Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares for $77,174, increasing his ownership by 10.57% to a total of approximately $807,120.
• Celanese's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.44 EPS, compared to a consensus estimate of $1.38, with revenue of $2.53 billion.

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 31.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,818 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 96,782 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Celanese worth $12,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 127.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 739.1% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE traded up $1.9250 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.0350. The company had a trading volume of 703,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,826,054. Celanese Corporation has a 1-year low of $36.29 and a 1-year high of $142.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of -3.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50 day moving average price is $54.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 10.48% and a negative net margin of 16.30%.Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $52.00 price target on Celanese and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Celanese from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Celanese from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.94.

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.