Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Lifted to “Overweight” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $51.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $50.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MEOH. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Methanex from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Methanex from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Methanex from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Methanex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MEOH remained flat at $42.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 367,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,842. Methanex has a 1 year low of $38.31 and a 1 year high of $56.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 1.39.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.10. Methanex had a return on equity of 5.44% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $920.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Methanex will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Methanex’s payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Methanex during the first quarter worth about $589,459,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Methanex by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,396,173 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $349,868,000 after purchasing an additional 346,475 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Methanex by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,557,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $216,043,000 after purchasing an additional 599,778 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Methanex by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,487,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,000,000 after purchasing an additional 43,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Methanex by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,075,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,085,000 after purchasing an additional 8,637 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities.