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

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.63.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MEOH. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC cut their price target on Methanex from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Methanex Stock Down 7.6 %

Methanex stock opened at $28.72 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.06. Methanex has a fifty-two week low of $27.35 and a fifty-two week high of $56.43.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. Equities analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Methanex by 4,776.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after buying an additional 881,823 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Methanex during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,301,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,119,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,835,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Methanex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,327,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

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.