Celanese (NYSE:CE) Upgraded to “Buy” at Vertical Research

Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $60.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Celanese in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Tudor Pickering raised Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Celanese from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.39.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $51.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of -4.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. Celanese has a 12 month low of $35.13 and a 12 month high of $63.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.66.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 8.75% and a negative net margin of 12.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. Celanese has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CE. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 182.1% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,081,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $281,157,000 after buying an additional 3,280,109 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth about $114,934,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 1,539.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,133,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,127 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $235,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,115,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $215,255,000 after acquiring an additional 887,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.