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

Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.88.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Methanex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Methanex in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank raised shares of Methanex from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler set a $48.00 price target on Methanex and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Methanex Price Performance

MEOH opened at $34.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.32. Methanex has a 52-week low of $25.46 and a 52-week high of $54.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Methanex had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 10.97%. The firm had revenue of $857.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is 24.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,836,661 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $241,549,000 after purchasing an additional 62,467 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Methanex by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,330,889 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $166,384,000 after acquiring an additional 95,950 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Methanex by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,131,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,740,000 after acquiring an additional 14,611 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Methanex by 41.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,276,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,798,000 after purchasing an additional 376,365 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Methanex by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,224,388 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,931,000 after purchasing an additional 147,195 shares during the period. 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.