Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $60.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Methanex traded as high as $57.98 and last traded at $57.8980, with a volume of 736615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.48.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi grew its holdings in Methanex by 3.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Methanex by 318.7% in the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 409,496 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,586,000 after purchasing an additional 311,696 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 5,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 27,510 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 7,510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 51.31 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.19 and its 200-day moving average is $41.21.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $968.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Methanex had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex’s payout ratio is currently 65.49%.

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).