Raymond James Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Stock Price

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price objective increased by Raymond James Financial from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on MEOH. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of Methanex stock opened at $58.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 51.65 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.06. Methanex has a 1 year low of $26.47 and a 1 year high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.95). The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Methanex will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Methanex

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Amundi increased its position in Methanex by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Methanex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in 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 during the period. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in Methanex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Methanex by 327.0% in 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 period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).