Celanese (NYSE:CE) Trading Down 6.9% – Time to Sell?

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)’s share price was down 6.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $46.12 and last traded at $45.9950. Approximately 1,035,784 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 2,277,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $53.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Celanese from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.06.

Celanese Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.39. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.74.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.03). Celanese had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Celanese has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.400 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,907,000 after purchasing an additional 29,392 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Celanese by 21.5% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,214,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,104,000 after buying an additional 214,632 shares during the last quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Celanese by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd now owns 84,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after buying an additional 42,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Celanese by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,565,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,312,000 after buying an additional 1,076,645 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 113.1% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 152,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,439,000 after acquiring an additional 80,827 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.