Methanex Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 3,122 call options on the company. This is an increase of 299% compared to the typical volume of 782 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Methanex from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Methanex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 worth $10,112,000 after buying an additional 19,588 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,111,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,129,000 after buying an additional 119,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 worth $92,000,000 after buying an additional 1,998,763 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 55,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after buying an additional 5,690 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Resource Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Orion Resource Partners LP now owns 126,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,011,000 after buying an additional 77,291 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Methanex Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MEOH opened at $61.57 on Tuesday. Methanex has a twelve month low of $25.46 and a twelve month high of $66.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 54.49 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.95). Methanex had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 2.21%.The firm had revenue of $968.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Methanex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Methanex will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).