Raymond James Equities Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) – Equities research analysts at Raymond James lifted their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Methanex in a research note issued on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James analyst S. Hansen now anticipates that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings of $0.27 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.19. Raymond James currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Methanex’s current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Methanex’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.70 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.47 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.35 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.79 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.65 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. CIBC boosted their price target on Methanex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. TheStreet upgraded Methanex from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Methanex from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of MEOH stock opened at $47.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 1.50. Methanex has a 52-week low of $38.18 and a 52-week high of $51.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.24. Methanex had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 4.67%. The business had revenue of $922.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.21 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Methanex by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,396,173 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,868,000 after buying an additional 346,475 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Methanex by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,557,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $216,043,000 after buying an additional 599,778 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Methanex by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,443,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,745,000 after purchasing an additional 425,104 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Methanex by 60.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,631,060 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,072,000 after purchasing an additional 616,146 shares during the period. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Methanex by 5.3% in the first quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,066,683 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,589,000 after purchasing an additional 53,219 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.08%.

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.