Man Group plc Invests $35.08 Million in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 760,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,078,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Amundi increased its holdings in Methanex by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Methanex during the second quarter worth about $419,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 15.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 249,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,250,000 after buying an additional 33,827 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in Methanex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Methanex by 327.0% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 47,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after buying an additional 36,211 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Methanex Price Performance

NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $56.93 on Thursday. Methanex Corporation has a 52-week low of $32.00 and a 52-week high of $66.75. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.27 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.55.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Methanex had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 8.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 price target on Methanex and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.56.

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).