Brokerages Set Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target at $68.56

Shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.5556.

MEOH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Methanex Stock Up 3.5%

Methanex stock opened at $56.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 54.49 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.96. Methanex has a 12 month low of $32.00 and a 12 month high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.13). The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MEOH. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Methanex in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Methanex by 336.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Methanex by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Methanex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $153,000. Finally, AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex during the second quarter worth $166,000. 73.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).