Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $58.36, but opened at $53.65. Methanex shares last traded at $53.3850, with a volume of 138,089 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MEOH has been the subject of several research reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Methanex Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.97. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90 and a beta of 0.56.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its 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 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%.Methanex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is 65.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 249.8% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,022,987 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $34,872,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 686.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 963,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,277,000 after purchasing an additional 840,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 116.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,157,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,011,000 after purchasing an additional 623,502 shares in the last quarter. 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).