Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research cut shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

MEOH has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.78.

Methanex Price Performance

MEOH opened at $51.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.45. Methanex has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -104.39 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -151.02%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 546.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 269,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,710,000 after acquiring an additional 227,723 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,022,987 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 689,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,417,000 after acquiring an additional 320,964 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Methanex during the fourth quarter worth $375,000. Finally, Aviso Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Methanex by 33.5% during the third quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 89,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 22,401 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

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).