Celanese (NYSE:CE) Upgraded at Vertical Research

Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese (NYSE:CE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Vertical Research currently has $60.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CE. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Celanese from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on Celanese in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Celanese from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.39.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE opened at $52.02 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.73. Celanese has a 52 week low of $35.13 and a 52 week high of $63.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.91, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.13%.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,840,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $500,610,000 after acquiring an additional 90,428 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Celanese by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,565,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,312,000 after buying an additional 1,076,645 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 21.0% in the third quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,115,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,255,000 after buying an additional 887,600 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 182.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,081,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $281,157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,094,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $173,127,000 after acquiring an additional 558,391 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Celanese

Here are the key news stories impacting Celanese this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tudor Pickering upgraded Celanese to a “Buy,” which can attract buyers and support near-term momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Vertical Research also upgraded CE to “Buy,” adding to positive analyst flow that likely helped push the stock up today. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks slightly raised its Q3 2027 EPS view (from $0.16 to $0.31), but this single-quarter bump is small relative to its broader negative revisions and does not offset the overall downgrade bias.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut multiple quarterly and full‑year EPS estimates and kept a “Strong Sell” stance — examples include Q1 2026 down to $0.80 (from $0.88), Q2 2026 to $1.12 (from $1.58), FY2026 to $4.40 (from $5.20), and FY2027 to $5.94 (from $7.05). These reductions, alongside Zacks’ negative rating, increase downside pressure on the stock and reflect weaker-than-expected near‑term profit outlooks.

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.