Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.7778.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MEOH shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,917,000 after buying an additional 336,316 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after buying an additional 1,998,763 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,048,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,363,000 after buying an additional 7,707 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,520,000 after buying an additional 518,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 249.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,432,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,939,000 after buying an additional 1,022,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Price Performance

Methanex stock opened at $48.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.74. Methanex has a one year low of $32.00 and a one year high of $66.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of -99.59 and a beta of 0.56.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). Methanex had a negative net margin of 1.25% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $957.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Methanex will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Methanex’s payout ratio is -151.02%.

Methanex Company Profile

Methanex Corporation is a Vancouver, Canada–based company and one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of methanol. The company manufactures methanol, a key feedstock for a wide range of chemical products and industrial applications. Methanex markets its product to customers in energy, plastics, paints and coatings, and various chemical sectors, positioning the company as a critical link in the global supply chain for basic chemicals.

The company’s core product, methanol, serves as a building block for downstream chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).