Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) Short Interest Down 27.7% in January

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 737,800 shares, a decrease of 27.7% from the December 31st total of 1,020,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 330,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Methanex during the 4th quarter worth $240,000. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 117,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 7,375 shares in the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new position in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter worth $1,540,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at about $386,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Methanex by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Methanex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $51.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.91. Methanex has a 1-year low of $36.13 and a 1-year high of $56.43. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 1.37.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 11.10%. Research analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MEOH shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Methanex from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Methanex from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.75.

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.