Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Methanex from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $58.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.65 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.21 and a 200 day moving average of $44.83. Methanex has a 12 month low of $26.47 and a 12 month high of $66.75.

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

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi boosted its stake in Methanex by 3.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Methanex in the 2nd quarter worth about $419,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 249,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 33,827 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 327.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 47,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 36,211 shares during the last quarter. 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).