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

Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 4,520 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 94% compared to the average daily volume of 2,324 call options.

Celanese Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of CE stock opened at $45.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.46. Celanese has a twelve month low of $35.13 and a twelve month high of $70.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.52, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.03). Celanese had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Celanese has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is -1.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CE. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 1,539.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,133,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,192,000 after buying an additional 2,003,127 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 83.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,187,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $143,849,000 after purchasing an additional 993,193 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $215,255,000 after purchasing an additional 887,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,645,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,056,000 after purchasing an additional 837,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of several research reports. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Celanese from $53.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Celanese from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Celanese from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Celanese from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

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.