Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 28,623 Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 717,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 28,623 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Methanex were worth $35,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Methanex in the third quarter worth $40,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Methanex by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Methanex by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Methanex by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. CIBC cut their target price on Methanex from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Methanex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.63.

Methanex Stock Down 7.6 %

MEOH opened at $28.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62. Methanex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.35 and a fifty-two week high of $56.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.06.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. On average, research analysts expect that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.03%.

About Methanex

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.