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

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MEOH. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 price target on shares of Methanex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Methanex from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Methanex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.56.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $57.29 on Friday. Methanex has a 12 month low of $32.00 and a 12 month high of $66.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.08. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.62 and a beta of 0.58.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.13). Methanex had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Methanex will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Methanex during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 336.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Methanex during the second quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Finally, AXA S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Methanex during the second quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Company Profile

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).