Methanex Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 35,044 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 9,689% compared to the typical daily volume of 358 put options.

Methanex Stock Up 1.8%

Methanex stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.81. 2,410,508 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,638. Methanex has a 52-week low of $32.00 and a 52-week high of $66.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.01 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.62.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Methanex had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Methanex will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is 71.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Methanex by 0.4% during the 4th 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. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Methanex in the second quarter valued at about $56,683,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Methanex during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,605,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Methanex by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,127,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,116,000 after buying an additional 50,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased 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 valued at $44,129,000 after acquiring an additional 119,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MEOH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 target price on shares of Methanex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.56.

Methanex Company Profile

Methanex Corporation is a global producer and distributor of methanol, a versatile chemical used in the manufacture of formaldehyde, acetic acid, solvents, plastics, and other industrial products. Methanol is also used in fuel blending, marine fuel applications, wastewater treatment, and the production of emerging low-carbon fuels and chemicals.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Methanex operates methanol production facilities in regions including North America, South America, New Zealand, Egypt, and Trinidad.