Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Raised to Sector Outperform at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $71.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $69.00. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s price objective points to a potential upside of 28.74% from the stock’s current price.

MEOH has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Methanex from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Methanex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Methanex Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ MEOH opened at $55.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Methanex has a 52 week low of $32.00 and a 52 week high of $66.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of -112.55 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.87.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $957.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.76 million. Methanex had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Methanex will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,763 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $34,872,000. Boston Partners grew its position in Methanex by 686.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 963,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,277,000 after buying an additional 840,831 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Methanex by 116.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,157,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,011,000 after buying an additional 623,502 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in Methanex by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,520,000 after buying an additional 518,173 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Methanex Company Profile

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).