Investors Purchase Large Volume of Celanese Call Options (NYSE:CE)

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 4,520 call options on the company. This is an increase of 94% compared to the typical volume of 2,324 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Celanese by 41.7% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 9,543 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 265.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 144.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 42.1% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Celanese by 6.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 184,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,235,000 after purchasing an additional 11,347 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock opened at $45.96 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.44. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $35.13 and a fifty-two week high of $70.70.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently -1.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Celanese from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Celanese from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Celanese from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.31.

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.