National Bank Financial Begins Coverage on Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH)

National Bank Financial started coverage on shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. National Bank Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.21% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Raymond James Financial set a $45.00 target price on Methanex and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Methanex from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. CIBC boosted their price objective on Methanex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Methanex in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Methanex Stock Up 3.9%

Methanex stock opened at $39.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.01. Methanex has a 52-week low of $25.46 and a 52-week high of $54.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Methanex by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 11,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter worth about $2,521,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in Methanex during the 4th quarter valued at about $934,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Methanex by 1.4% during the fourth 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 valued at $3,552,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 98.4% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 52,370 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 25,973 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.