Norges Bank Makes New $34.87 Million Investment in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 879,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,872,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.14% of Methanex as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $108,917,000 after acquiring an additional 336,316 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased 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 valued at $56,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,987 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 116.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,157,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,011,000 after acquiring an additional 623,502 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,091,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,383,000 after acquiring an additional 7,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 992,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,442,000 after acquiring an additional 226,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Price Performance

MEOH opened at $58.29 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.96 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.89. Methanex Corporation has a 1 year low of $32.00 and a 1 year high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $957.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.76 million. Methanex had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.Methanex’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Methanex Corporation will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Methanex’s payout ratio is currently -151.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MEOH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Methanex from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Methanex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.78.

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).