Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Trading Up 4.3%

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX)’s stock price was up 4.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $49.11 and last traded at $49.07. Approximately 344,158 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 294,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Methanex from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. UBS Group upgraded Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. CIBC upped their price objective on Methanex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on Methanex from $67.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.50.

Methanex Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.33 and a 200-day moving average of $44.53.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.24. Methanex had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The company had revenue of $922.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $901.21 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MEOH. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Methanex by 1,158.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,271 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Methanex during the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Methanex during the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Methanex by 43.3% during the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,884 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.