Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Holdings in Celanese Corporation $CE

Key Points

• Wellington Management cut its Celanese stake by 33% in the second quarter, selling 228,163 shares and retaining 462,199 shares worth approximately $21.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 98.87% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Celanese has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $63.71, while several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Celanese exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $2.45 in EPS versus $2.23 forecast, while revenue reached $2.75 billion. Shares opened at $44.81, near the lower end of their 52-week range, and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 33.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 462,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 228,163 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.42% of Celanese worth $21,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 111.1% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 513 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 662 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 175.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 896 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Murray acquired 2,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.52 per share, for a total transaction of $98,004.56. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 30,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,385,264.64. This trade represents a 7.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Celanese from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Celanese in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $50.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.71.

Celanese Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE CE opened at $44.81 on Monday. Celanese Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $35.13 and a fifty-two week high of $70.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.08. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 13.04% and a negative net margin of 12.04%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Celanese Corporation will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. Celanese's payout ratio is presently -1.12%.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical and specialty materials company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products serving diverse industries. The company operates through two primary business segments—Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain—offering solutions that range from high-performance polymers and specialty additives to industrial chemicals and intermediates. Its engineered materials are used in applications such as automotive components, consumer electronics, medical devices and packaging, while its acetyl derivatives find uses in coatings, adhesives, solvents and personal care products.

In the Engineered Materials segment, Celanese produces a variety of high-performance thermoplastics, polyether-block-amide (PEBA) elastomers and functional additives designed to enhance product durability, thermal resistance and sustainability.

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