Brokerages Set Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target at $68.78

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.00.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MEOH shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Methanex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st.

Methanex Stock Down 3.7%

MEOH opened at $55.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of -114.00 and a beta of 0.60. Methanex has a twelve month low of $32.00 and a twelve month high of $66.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.08). Methanex had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.The firm had revenue of $957.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Methanex will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Methanex by 14.0% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Methanex by 629.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Methanex by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,048,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,363,000 after purchasing an additional 7,707 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Methanex by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,520,000 after purchasing an additional 518,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,313,615 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,104,000 after purchasing an additional 123,078 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).