Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Upgraded at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Methanex from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Scotiabank set a $50.00 price target on shares of Methanex and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Methanex from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Methanex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Methanex Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of MEOH opened at $39.76 on Thursday. Methanex has a one year low of $25.46 and a one year high of $54.49. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.01.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $808.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $835.04 million. Methanex had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The company’s revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Methanex by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 11,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 4,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 71,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,552,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

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.