Lloyd Harbor Opens $8 Million Position in Celanese Amid Stock's 66% Decline
Celanese supplies engineered polymers and specialty chemicals for industries ranging from automotive to consumer goods worldwide.
What happenedLloyd Harbor Capital Management, LLC’s latest SEC filing shows the fund opened a new position in Celanese (CE +0.72%) during the fourth quarter, acquiring 190,000 shares. The estimated transaction value was $8.03 million, calculated using the average quarterly closing price. The resulting quarter-end value for the stake also totaled $8.03 million, as reported in the filing. The change reflects the purchase of new shares.What else to knowThis was a new position for the fund, accounting for 3.87% of its 13F reportable assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2025.Top holdings after the filing included:NexGen Energy: $27.94 million (15.1% of AUM)Cameco: $24.47 million (13.2% of AUM)Solstice Advanced Materials: $16.76 million (9.0% of AUM)Sprotts Uranium Miners ETF: $16.64 million (9.0% of AUM)Denison Mines: $16.23 million (8.8% of AUM)As of March 19, 2026, shares were priced at $59.01, up 0.84% over the past year and underperforming the S&P 500 by 16 percentage points.
The fund reported 19 total positions post-filing, with Celanese’s new stake ranking outside its top five holdings. Lloyd Harbor Capital Management reported a 19% quarter-over-quarter reduction in total 13F AUM.Company OverviewMetricValueRevenue (TTM)$9.54 billionNet Income (TTM)($1.13 billion)Dividend Yield0.20%Price (as of market close March 19, 2026)$59.01Company SnapshotCelanese:Produces engineered polymers, acetate tow, acetyl products, and specialty chemicals for automotive, medical, industrial, consumer, and food applications.Generates revenue through manufacturing and global sales of high-performance materials and chemical intermediates across three main business segments.Serves industrial manufacturers, automotive suppliers, medical device companies, consumer goods producers, and food and beverage firms worldwide.Celanese is a global specialty materials and chemicals company with a diversified product portfolio and significant manufacturing scale.
The company leverages advanced polymer and chemical technologies to supply critical inputs for high-value industries, supporting applications from automotive components to food additives. Its integrated business model and broad customer base provide resilience and competitive positioning within the basic materials sector.What this transaction means for investorsLloyd Harbor likes to focus on contrarian picks in cyclical mining and commodities, and its recent purchase of Celanese certainly fits that billing. The stock is down 66% from its 2024 high, making it a ripe value stock of sorts amid cyclical headwinds in the current challenging environment.
Focused on paying down its hefty net debt load -- $12.5 billion versus a market cap of $6.6 billion -- Celanese cut its quarterly dividend payments from $0.70 to $0.03 in 2024. While this hurt the stock at the time, I love this move as it helps the company prioritize deleveraging after it bought DuPont’s Mobility and Materials business for $11 billion.While Celanese was hit with impairment charges over the last year for this acquisition -- meaning that management essentially admitted to overpaying somewhat -- its EBITDA and free cash flow (FCF) generation have remained steady. If Celanese can ride out this trough portion of the cycle and return its EBITDA to its “normal” rate around 22%, the company would be trading at only 9 times EBITDA at today’s price.
Said another way, it is a reasonably priced value stock to consider, especially considering its leadership position in a niche with high barriers to entry.I’ll be watching this stock closely as its essential products are going nowhere (in a good way), but it just needs time to keep delevering from its debt load. Analysts at Wells Fargo and KeyBanc have recently cited the company as a promising buy, adding further intrigue to the stock. With management guiding for the company to generate $700 million in FCF in 2026 -- and with sales poised to potentially recover due to knock-on effects from the
Iran war -- Celanese is a top-tier cyclical stock to consider right now.