Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.13.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MEOH. Piper Sandler cut shares of Methanex from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $71.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank cut shares of Methanex from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Methanex from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Methanex from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Methanex from $62.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Methanex Price Performance

NASDAQ MEOH traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $31.78. 719,761 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 371,478. Methanex has a 52-week low of $25.46 and a 52-week high of $56.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $34.59 and its 200-day moving average is $42.20.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 10.97%. Equities analysts forecast that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Methanex's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,836,661 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $241,549,000 after acquiring an additional 62,467 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,330,889 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $166,384,000 after acquiring an additional 95,950 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $105,779,000 after acquiring an additional 37,658 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 41.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,276,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $44,798,000 after acquiring an additional 376,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,077,193 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $53,770,000 after acquiring an additional 226,349 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.