Methanex (TSE:MX) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Methanex shares reached a new 52-week high of C$92.57, up from a prior close of C$88.51, and were last trading at C$92.27.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with National Bank Financial and CIBC upgrading the stock to “strong buy.” However, the consensus rating remains “Buy,” while the C$60 target price is well below the current share price.
• Methanex reported quarterly EPS of C$5.50 on C$1.98 billion in revenue, but profitability remained modest with a 2.05% net margin; a company director also sold 2,000 shares, reducing his holdings by nearly 20%.

Methanex Co. (TSE:MX - Get Free Report) NASDAQ: MEOH's share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as C$92.57 and last traded at C$92.27, with a volume of 103,492 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$88.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MX. National Bank Financial upgraded Methanex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Methanex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Methanex presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of C$60.00.

Methanex Stock Up 1.9%

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is C$84.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$80.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 122.11. The company has a market cap of C$6.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.51, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.66.

Methanex (TSE:MX - Get Free Report) NASDAQ: MEOH last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$5.50 EPS for the quarter. Methanex had a return on equity of 3.50% and a net margin of 2.05%. The business had revenue of C$1.98 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Methanex Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alejandro Larrive sold 2,000 shares of Methanex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$88.03, for a total value of C$176,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$705,032.27. The trade was a 19.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Methanex

Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world's largest supplier of methanol globally. Methanex shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the trading symbol 'MX' and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in the United States under the trading symbol 'MEOH'. Methanex can be visited online at www.methanex.com.

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