Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target Raised to $65.00

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price objective lifted by Raymond James Financial from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Methanex from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Methanex Trading Down 7.2%

NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $54.13 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.97. Methanex has a 12 month low of $26.47 and a 12 month high of $66.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90 and a beta of 0.56.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.95). Methanex had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The company had revenue of $968.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Methanex’s payout ratio is presently 65.49%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park National Corp OH purchased a new position in Methanex in the first quarter worth about $233,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 254,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,112,000 after buying an additional 19,588 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,111,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,129,000 after buying an additional 119,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Methanex by 629.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Methanex by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 55,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,690 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by 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).