Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $57.67, but opened at $59.76. Methanex shares last traded at $59.1460, with a volume of 37,324 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MEOH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 target price on Methanex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Methanex from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.56.

Methanex Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.79 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.84%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Methanex by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,917,000 after acquiring an additional 336,316 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,763 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $81,363,000 after buying an additional 7,707 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,520,000 after purchasing an additional 518,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,313,615 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,104,000 after buying an additional 123,078 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Methanex

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).