Brokerages Set Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target at $61.88

Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MEOH. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Methanex from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Methanex Price Performance

Methanex stock opened at $46.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 1.36. Methanex has a 1 year low of $36.13 and a 1 year high of $56.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $49.03 and a 200-day moving average of $44.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s payout ratio is 32.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Methanex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,836,661 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $241,549,000 after acquiring an additional 62,467 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Methanex by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $105,779,000 after acquiring an additional 37,658 shares in the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Methanex by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,182,168 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,022,000 after acquiring an additional 106,848 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Methanex by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 989,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,393,000 after acquiring an additional 262,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Methanex by 4,776.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 881,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Company Profile

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.