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

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 5,591 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 162% compared to the typical volume of 2,138 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CE. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Celanese by 41.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 9,543 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 144.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 184,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,235,000 after buying an additional 11,347 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 2.4%

Celanese stock opened at $44.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.89 and its 200-day moving average is $53.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of -4.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 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.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.85 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Celanese has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Celanese from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Celanese from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Celanese from $80.00 to $57.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Celanese from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.44.

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.