Celanese (NYSE:CE) Stock Price Down 7.6% – Here’s What Happened

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) shares dropped 7.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $63.17 and last traded at $63.16. Approximately 200,452 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 2,521,099 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CE. UBS Group raised their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Celanese from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $66.00 price objective on Celanese and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. 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 report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Celanese in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.65.

Celanese Trading Down 7.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of -6.00, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.81.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 27th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -1.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 111.1% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 513 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the third quarter worth $34,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 140.4% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 350.5% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Celanese

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.