Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price objective boosted by Scotiabank from $60.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

MEOH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.20.

Methanex Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $60.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Methanex has a one year low of $29.58 and a one year high of $66.75. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 53.19 and a beta of 0.56.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.95). The firm had revenue of $968.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Methanex had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 2.21%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex’s payout ratio is 65.49%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Methanex by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in Methanex by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 19,842 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Methanex by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Methanex by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Methanex by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

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).