Madison Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Celanese Corporation $CE

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 38,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the second quarter valued at approximately $614,675,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Celanese by 1,539.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,133,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,127 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,076,645 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 993,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,115,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $215,255,000 after purchasing an additional 887,600 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CE. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Celanese from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $50.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.47.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 2,153 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $1,385,264.64. This represents a 7.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $46.91 on Friday. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $35.13 and a one year high of $70.70. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.39, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.76. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.84.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released 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 company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is -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.