BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Stock Price

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MEOH. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Methanex from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.36.

Methanex Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of MEOH opened at $52.87 on Wednesday. Methanex has a fifty-two week low of $25.46 and a fifty-two week high of $59.09. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.79 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.81. 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 (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex’s payout ratio is currently 65.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Methanex by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,917,000 after buying an additional 336,316 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Methanex by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,048,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,363,000 after acquiring an additional 7,707 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,520,000 after acquiring an additional 518,173 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,568,264 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,960,000 after acquiring an additional 343,876 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).