Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.90.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MEOH. Zacks Research upgraded Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. 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. Raymond James Financial upped 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Methanex Price Performance

MEOH opened at $60.19 on Monday. Methanex has a 1 year low of $31.57 and a 1 year high of $66.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of -122.84 and a beta of 0.60. 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 issued its 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 firm had revenue of $957.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.76 million. Methanex had a negative net margin of 1.25% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. Methanex’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Methanex will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -151.02%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MEOH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 227,723 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Methanex in the third quarter valued at $419,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 29.5% during the third 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 during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,022,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased 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 period. 73.49% of the stock is 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).