Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Methanex, with six buy ratings and five holds among 11 firms. The average 12-month price target is $68.56, above the stock’s reported $54.27 price.
• Methanex’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations, with earnings of $3.87 per share versus a $4.00 consensus and revenue of $1.40 billion versus $1.43 billion expected. However, revenue increased 75% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.185 per share, equivalent to $0.74 annually and a 1.4% yield. Institutional investors own 73.49% of Methanex’s outstanding stock.

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.5556.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Methanex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Methanex from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi increased its stake in Methanex by 3.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Methanex in the 2nd quarter worth about $419,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 249,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,250,000 after buying an additional 33,827 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Methanex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 327.0% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 47,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,565,000 after buying an additional 36,211 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Methanex Trading Down 1.7%

MEOH opened at $54.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 52.69 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $53.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Methanex has a 12-month low of $32.00 and a 12-month high of $66.75.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Methanex had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 2.07%.Methanex's revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Methanex will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Methanex's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.84%.

Methanex Company Profile

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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