Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Stock Price Up 5.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s stock price was up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $70.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Methanex traded as high as $56.36 and last traded at $55.8160. Approximately 681,214 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 875,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.87.

MEOH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Methanex by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 254,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,112,000 after purchasing an additional 19,588 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Methanex by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,111,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,129,000 after buying an additional 119,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 55,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Resource Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Resource Partners LP now owns 126,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,011,000 after acquiring an additional 77,291 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Methanex Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 49.96 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.91.

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

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Methanex’s payout ratio is 65.49%.

About Methanex

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).