LPL Financial LLC Trims Stake in Celanese Corporation $CE

LPL Financial LLC lowered its position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,681 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming increased its stake in Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Celanese by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 739.1% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Caption Management LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $45.1630 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of -3.05, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.37 and a 200 day moving average of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 2.05. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $142.54.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.30% and a positive return on equity of 10.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Celanese has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.100-1.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently -0.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Celanese from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.94.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.