The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $2.74 Million in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 59,465 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,741,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Methanex by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 82,381 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,892,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Methanex by 4.8% during the first quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 8,127 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Methanex by 33.3% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Methanex by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MEOH opened at $60.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 58.81 and a beta of 0.58. Methanex Corporation has a 1-year low of $32.00 and a 1-year high of $66.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.93.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.13). Methanex had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 2.07%.The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Methanex Corporation will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Methanex’s payout ratio is presently 71.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MEOH shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $70.00 target price on shares of Methanex and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.56.

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).