Celanese Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CE)

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 10,136 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 410% compared to the typical volume of 1,988 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Mizuho set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $57.00 target price on shares of Celanese and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Ten research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

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

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CE. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 132.4% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 10,993 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in Celanese by 2,657.4% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 124,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,708,000 after purchasing an additional 119,583 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Celanese by 154.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 232,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,700,000 after purchasing an additional 141,175 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in Celanese by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 162,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,459,000 after purchasing an additional 60,317 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Up 3.1%

CE opened at $45.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.55 and its 200-day moving average is $52.80. Celanese has a 52-week low of $35.13 and a 52-week high of $70.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently -1.12%.

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.