First Trust Advisors LP Invests $632,000 in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH - Free Report) TSE: MX during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 881,823 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $38,301,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $34,119,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $14,327,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 262,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MEOH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their price target on Methanex from $62.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Methanex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Methanex from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperformer" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Methanex from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Methanex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Methanex Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ MEOH traded up $0.66 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.14. The stock had a trading volume of 470,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,422. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.69. Methanex Co. has a twelve month low of $25.46 and a twelve month high of $56.43.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $857.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Methanex's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.83%.

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.