Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target Raised to $70.00

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

MEOH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research downgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.50.

Methanex Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of MEOH opened at $59.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 52.98 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.47 and a 200 day moving average of $44.34. Methanex has a 52-week low of $26.24 and a 52-week high of $66.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 629.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after buying an additional 1,998,763 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 249.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,432,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $56,939,000 after buying an additional 1,022,987 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Methanex during the fourth quarter valued at $34,872,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 686.0% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 963,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,277,000 after buying an additional 840,831 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 116.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,157,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,011,000 after buying an additional 623,502 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).