Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Lifted to “Hold” by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Celanese from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Celanese in a research note on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp started coverage on Celanese in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $50.00 price objective on Celanese in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.38.

Celanese Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $45.81 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.29, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76. Celanese has a 12-month low of $35.13 and a 12-month high of $70.70.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 12.04% and a positive return on equity of 13.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be issued 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 is Tuesday, October 27th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.12%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Murray bought 2,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.52 per share, with a total value of $98,004.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 30,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,385,264.64. This trade represents a 7.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Celanese

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at about $614,675,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the second quarter worth about $62,580,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Celanese by 83.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,187,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,849,000 after buying an additional 993,193 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,564,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Company Profile

Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) is a global chemical and specialty materials company that develops and manufactures products used in a wide range of industries, including automotive, consumer goods, medical, electronics, food, paints and coatings, and industrial manufacturing. The company serves customers through operations and commercial activities across North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets.

Celanese operates primarily through its Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain businesses.