LPL Financial LLC Sells 7,681 Shares of Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has reduced its stake in Celanese Corporation by 16.4%, now holding 39,204 shares valued at $2.23 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Celanese, with notable increases including the State of Wyoming by 122.5% and Mather Group LLC by 127.0%.
• Celanese reported a quarterly EPS of $1.44, exceeding estimates, but saw a 4.5% decline in revenue year-over-year.

LPL Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 16.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,681 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $2,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. one8zero8 LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 131.9% in the first quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 23,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 13,355 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,656 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 152.2% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,652 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 10,050 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,362 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 63.6% in the 1st quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 31,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 12,166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Celanese to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $67.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.94.

Celanese Stock Up 8.4%

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $3.7580 on Friday, hitting $48.4380. The company had a trading volume of 2,787,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,827,592. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.75 and a 200-day moving average of $52.65. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $142.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. Research analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.81%.

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.