Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $60.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Methanex traded as high as $57.98 and last traded at $57.8980, with a volume of 736615 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.48.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MEOH. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 8.3% in the 4th 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 period. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew 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 valued at $44,129,000 after buying an additional 119,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 valued at $92,000,000 after buying an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position 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 period. Finally, Orion Resource Partners LP raised 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 worth $5,011,000 after acquiring an additional 77,291 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Methanex Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 51.38 and a beta of 0.65.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 5.35%. Methanex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.185 dividend. 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).