Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $34.43, but opened at $36.00. Methanex shares last traded at $36.57, with a volume of 269,481 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MEOH shares. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Methanex from $62.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Methanex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. CIBC cut their price target on shares of Methanex from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Methanex in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.88.

Methanex Stock Up 4.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $857.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Methanex had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 10.97%. Methanex’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.83%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake 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 worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 881,823 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Methanex in the fourth quarter worth about $1,170,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Methanex by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,840 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,000. 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.