Clough Capital Partners L P Purchases Shares of 30,000 Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Key Points

• Clough Capital Partners purchased 30,000 Methanex shares worth approximately $1.786 million during the first quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 73.49% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Methanex has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $69, compared with a share price of $55.86. Recent actions included upgrades from CIBC and UBS, while JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral.
• Methanex reported quarterly EPS of $0.30, below the $0.38 consensus estimate, although revenue rose 8.7% year over year to $957.42 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.185 per share, representing a 1.3% yield.

Clough Capital Partners L P purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH - Free Report) TSE: MX in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 30,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,786,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Methanex by 0.3% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 82,381 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,892,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Methanex by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 8,127 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Methanex by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Methanex by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Methanex from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Methanex from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 target price on shares of Methanex and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Methanex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.00.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of MEOH stock opened at $55.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.71 and a 200-day moving average of $54.20. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Methanex Corporation has a 52 week low of $32.00 and a 52 week high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $957.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.76 million. Methanex had a negative net margin of 1.25% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Methanex's payout ratio is -151.02%.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation is a Vancouver, Canada–based company and one of the world's largest producers and suppliers of methanol. The company manufactures methanol, a key feedstock for a wide range of chemical products and industrial applications. Methanex markets its product to customers in energy, plastics, paints and coatings, and various chemical sectors, positioning the company as a critical link in the global supply chain for basic chemicals.

The company's core product, methanol, serves as a building block for downstream chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).

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