Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 price target on shares of Methanex and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $55.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.55 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.87. Methanex has a 1 year low of $32.00 and a 1 year high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). Methanex had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.The business had revenue of $957.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Methanex will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,917,000 after acquiring an additional 336,316 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,048,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,363,000 after acquiring an additional 7,707 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Methanex by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,520,000 after purchasing an additional 518,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Methanex by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,313,615 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,104,000 after purchasing an additional 123,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).