Raymond James Financial Boosts Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target to $65.00

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.08% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on MEOH. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Methanex from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Methanex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut Methanex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Methanex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Methanex Stock Up 0.7%

MEOH stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.99. 533,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,098. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $53.99 and its 200 day moving average is $44.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.43 and a beta of 0.56. Methanex has a twelve month low of $26.47 and a twelve month high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.95). The company had revenue of $968.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Methanex had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 2.21%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 3.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Methanex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $419,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Methanex by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 249,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 33,827 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. purchased a new position in Methanex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings 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 worth $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 36,211 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).