Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $70.00. The stock had previously closed at $51.20, but opened at $53.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Methanex shares last traded at $53.3820, with a volume of 555,036 shares traded.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MEOH. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Methanex from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Methanex in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Methanex by 1,244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Methanex by 336.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Methanex by 131.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Methanex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $166,000. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.14 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.06.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.95). The business had revenue of $968.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Methanex had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 5.35%. Methanex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.49%.

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).