Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 21,632 Shares of Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Celanese Corporation by 82.6%, selling 21,632 shares and holding only 4,570 shares worth $259,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Strengthening Families & Communities LLC and Mather Group LLC, have increased their positions in Celanese, indicating growing interest among institutional investors, who own 98.87% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Celanese, with price targets ranging from $43 to $62, and a consensus average rating of "Hold." The stock has also experienced a significant price drop, with a current value of $46.44.

Corebridge Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 82.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 21,632 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in Celanese were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CE. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,369 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Celanese by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 597,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,357,000 after buying an additional 48,115 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Celanese by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 522,599 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,169,000 after buying an additional 269,121 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 9,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Celanese by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, Director Timothy Go bought 1,039 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $48,053.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,193.75. The trade was a 30.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Celanese Stock Down 2.5%

Celanese stock traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.70. 1,014,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,897,838. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.16. Celanese Corporation has a 1-year low of $36.29 and a 1-year high of $142.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CE. Mizuho upped their price objective on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Celanese from $67.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research lowered Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Celanese to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.22.

Celanese Company Profile

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.