Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Methanex gapped down pre-market from $63.79 to $54.44 and was last trading around $58.35 on ~1.22M shares, down roughly 6.3%.
• The company reported an earnings miss (EPS $(0.14) vs. $0.81 expected) and revenue of $968.8M vs. $1.03B consensus, while trailing P/E is ~52.8 and net margin is just 2.21%.
• Analysts are mixed but skew positive — the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” with a $54.50 price target, and several firms have recently raised price targets and ratings.

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $63.79, but opened at $54.44. Methanex shares last traded at $58.35, with a volume of 1,217,199 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MEOH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Methanex Trading Down 6.3%

The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $52.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.81 and a beta of 0.56.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.95). Methanex had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The company had revenue of $968.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Methanex's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Methanex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 19,842 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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