Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MEOH. National Bank Financial initiated coverage on Methanex in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Methanex from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $45.00 price objective on Methanex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Methanex from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $50.00 price objective on Methanex and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Methanex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Methanex Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of MEOH opened at $33.99 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Methanex has a 12-month low of $25.46 and a 12-month high of $54.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.13.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Methanex by 41.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,276,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,798,000 after purchasing an additional 376,365 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Methanex by 225,333.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 33,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Methanex during the first quarter worth about $702,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Methanex by 150.1% during the second quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 19,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 11,567 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Methanex by 19.9% during the first 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.