Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $63.79, but opened at $54.44. Methanex shares last traded at $58.35, with a volume of 1,217,199 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MEOH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Methanex Stock Down 6.3%

The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.81 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.06. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.77 and its 200-day moving average is $43.94.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its 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 for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Methanex by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 254,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,112,000 after acquiring an additional 19,588 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Methanex by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,111,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,129,000 after acquiring an additional 119,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 valued at $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Methanex by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 55,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Resource Partners LP increased its position in Methanex by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Orion Resource Partners LP now owns 126,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,011,000 after acquiring an additional 77,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).