Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Trading Down 5.7% – Time to Sell?

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s share price was down 5.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $55.90 and last traded at $56.01. Approximately 440,228 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 1,136,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MEOH shares. Zacks Research raised Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Methanex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.78.

Methanex Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.15 and a 200-day moving average of $52.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.59 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 (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $957.42 million during 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Methanex Corporation will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Methanex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $419,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 249,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 33,827 shares during the period. AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of Methanex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 327.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 47,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 36,211 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).