Granite Investment Partners LLC Has $18.08 Million Position in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its position in Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,619 shares during the quarter. Methanex accounts for about 1.1% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.39% of Methanex worth $18,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 629.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,763 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 249.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,432,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,987 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at $34,872,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Methanex by 686.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 963,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,277,000 after purchasing an additional 840,831 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Methanex by 116.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,157,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,011,000 after purchasing an additional 623,502 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MEOH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Methanex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Methanex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.22.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of Methanex stock opened at $48.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.07. Methanex Corporation has a 1-year low of $32.00 and a 1-year high of $66.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -99.73 and a beta of 0.60.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). Methanex had a negative net margin of 1.25% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $957.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Methanex Corporation will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. Methanex’s payout ratio is presently -151.02%.

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).