Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases 10,096 Shares of Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Celanese Corporation by 9.7%, acquiring an additional 10,096 shares and now owns approximately 113,668 shares valued at $6.45 million.
• A mix of institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Celanese, with notable increases from Strengthening Families & Communities LLC (73.2%) and LRI Investments LLC (739.1%).
• Celanese reported $1.44 earnings per share for its most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, but saw a 4.5% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,096 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Celanese worth $6,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 73.2% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in Celanese by 122.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Celanese by 127.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 739.1% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $1.74 on Tuesday, hitting $44.78. The stock had a trading volume of 284,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,755,016. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $142.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.02, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $51.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CE. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $63.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.