Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Celanese (NYSE:CE)

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 10,136 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 410% compared to the average volume of 1,988 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Mizuho set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.71.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Murray bought 2,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.52 per share, with a total value of $98,004.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president owned 30,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,385,264.64. The trade was a 7.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Celanese by 175.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 896 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE CE traded up $1.47 on Thursday, reaching $45.92. The company had a trading volume of 519,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,938. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76. Celanese has a fifty-two week low of $35.13 and a fifty-two week high of $70.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.22. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 13.04% and a negative net margin of 12.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that Celanese will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.12%.

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.