Royal Bank Of Canada Downgrades Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) to Sector Perform

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $65.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.09% from the company’s previous close.

MEOH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Methanex from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. 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. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Methanex Stock Performance

Methanex stock opened at $59.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Methanex has a 1-year low of $25.46 and a 1-year high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.95). The firm had revenue of $968.81 million for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 33.3% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its position in Methanex by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 19,842 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Methanex by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 3.9% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

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).