Jefferies Financial Group Raises Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target to $60.00

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price target lifted by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.34% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MEOH. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.90.

Methanex Stock Performance

MEOH opened at $58.06 on Wednesday. Methanex has a 1-year low of $25.46 and a 1-year high of $59.09. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.38 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.95). The firm had revenue of $968.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Methanex had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 2.21%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Methanex in the third quarter valued at $419,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in Methanex by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 27,510 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 7,510 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Methanex by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,041,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,577,000 after buying an additional 814,877 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Methanex by 546.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 269,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,710,000 after buying an additional 227,723 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Methanex by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 689,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,417,000 after buying an additional 320,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Company Profile

Methanex Corporation is a Vancouver, Canada–based company and one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of methanol. The company manufactures methanol, a key feedstock for a wide range of chemical products and industrial applications. Methanex markets its product to customers in energy, plastics, paints and coatings, and various chemical sectors, positioning the company as a critical link in the global supply chain for basic chemicals.

The company’s core product, methanol, serves as a building block for downstream chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).