Corebridge Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in 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 Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 82.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Celanese by 27.7% in the 4th 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 increased its holdings in Celanese by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 597,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,357,000 after acquiring an additional 48,115 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Celanese by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 522,599 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,169,000 after acquiring an additional 269,121 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 9,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE CE traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $45.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,014,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,897,838. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.72 and a 200 day moving average of $51.17. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.11.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.30% and a positive return on equity of 10.48%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, Director Timothy Go purchased 1,039 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.25 per share, with a total value of $48,053.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CE. Alembic Global Advisors set a $60.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a report on Monday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of 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 shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $63.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.