Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.25.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Methanex from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Methanex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Methanex from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Methanex from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

Methanex Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MEOH opened at $46.05 on Friday. Methanex has a 1 year low of $38.31 and a 1 year high of $56.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.50. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. Methanex had a return on equity of 5.44% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $920.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Methanex’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex during the 1st quarter worth $589,459,000. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,396,173 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,868,000 after acquiring an additional 346,475 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 599,778 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Methanex by 1.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 43,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Methanex by 16.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,136,436 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,406,000 after purchasing an additional 159,542 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.