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

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CEGet Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 10,136 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 410% compared to the typical volume of 1,988 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CE. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Celanese from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Celanese in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.71.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Celanese

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.92. 519,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,132,938. Celanese has a 1-year low of $35.13 and a 1-year high of $70.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of -4.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CEGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.350-1.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Celanese will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -1.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Murray bought 2,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.52 per share, for a total transaction of $98,004.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 30,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,385,264.64. This represents a 7.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celanese

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $614,675,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Celanese by 4,519.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,837,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $268,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,710,991 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,580,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,565,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,645 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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