Acadian Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Methanex Corporation by 225,333.3% during Q1, now holding 33,815 shares valued at approximately $1.18 million.
• Methanex reported $0.97 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 13.4% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.185 per share, translating to an annual dividend yield of 1.9%.

Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH - Free Report) TSE: MX by 225,333.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of Methanex worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 11,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 6,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Methanex by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Methanex by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 4,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company's stock.

Methanex Trading Down 1.9%

Methanex stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 368,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,329. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.99. Methanex Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.46 and a 12 month high of $54.49.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.55. Methanex had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The business had revenue of $808.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $835.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Methanex's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Methanex's payout ratio is 21.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Methanex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Methanex from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Methanex in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank set a $50.00 price target on shares of Methanex and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Methanex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.88.

Methanex 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.