Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Trading Up 4.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s stock price rose 4.3% on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $62.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Methanex traded as high as $50.91 and last traded at $49.75. Approximately 115,088 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 292,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.71.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MEOH. Raymond James reduced their price target on Methanex from $67.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. CIBC boosted their price target on Methanex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. TheStreet upgraded Methanex from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Methanex from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Methanex during the 1st quarter valued at $178,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Methanex by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 4,042 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Methanex during the 4th quarter worth about $195,000. Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in Methanex during the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in Methanex during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.53 and a 200-day moving average of $44.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $922.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.21 million. Methanex had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 4.67%. As a group, research analysts predict that Methanex Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.08%.

Methanex Company Profile

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities.