Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $57.67, but opened at $59.76. Methanex shares last traded at $59.1460, with a volume of 37,324 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MEOH. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 price objective on Methanex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.56.

Methanex Trading Up 2.0%

The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.37 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.41 and its 200 day moving average is $55.84.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.13). Methanex had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 2.07%.The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Methanex Corporation will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is 71.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Methanex by 629.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Methanex during the second quarter valued at $56,683,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Methanex in the second quarter valued at about $53,605,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Methanex in the fourth quarter worth about $34,872,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Methanex by 686.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 963,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,277,000 after acquiring an additional 840,831 shares during the period. 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).