Senator Investment Group LP Boosts Stake in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Senator Investment Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 150.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 375,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Methanex were worth $14,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Methanex by 546.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 269,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,710,000 after buying an additional 227,723 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Methanex during the third quarter worth $419,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Methanex by 249.8% during the third 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 buying an additional 1,022,987 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in Methanex by 29.5% during the third quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 992,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,442,000 after buying an additional 226,000 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 87.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 689,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,417,000 after purchasing an additional 320,964 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $56.25 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -114.80 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.96. Methanex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Methanex Corporation will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MEOH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.78.

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).