Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Up 4.3%

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s stock price shot up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $49.11 and last traded at $49.07. 344,158 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 17% from the average session volume of 294,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MEOH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Methanex from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Methanex Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.53.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.24. Methanex had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The company had revenue of $922.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $901.21 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.08%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Methanex by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 5,129 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Methanex by 37.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 66,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 91,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 104,216 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

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.