35,043 Shares in Celanese Corporation $CE Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 35,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,482,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 111.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 513 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Celanese during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 140.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 350.5% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $56.79 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.63. Celanese Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.13 and a 52 week high of $70.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of -5.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.85 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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, equities research analysts expect that Celanese Corporation will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.81.

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.