Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.63.

MEOH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Methanex Price Performance

MEOH opened at $35.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.17. Methanex has a 52-week low of $35.08 and a 52-week high of $56.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.38.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. On average, analysts expect that Methanex will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Methanex’s payout ratio is 32.03%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Methanex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Methanex by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Methanex during the fourth quarter worth $106,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Methanex in the fourth quarter worth $129,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Methanex by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities.