Celanese (NYSE:CE) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $75.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Celanese traded as high as $63.71 and last traded at $63.51, with a volume of 63766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.54.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Celanese by 41.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 9,543 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 265.2% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Celanese by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $1,433,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 171.4% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 285,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,800,000 after purchasing an additional 180,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of -5.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.69.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.22). Celanese had a negative net margin of 12.15% and a positive return on equity of 8.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Celanese has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.13%.

Celanese Company 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.