Wall Street Zen Downgrades Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Methanex from “buy” to “hold”, adding to a mixed analyst outlook on the stock.
• Other firms have been split on Methanex: BMO Capital Markets raised its target to $70 with an outperform rating, while RBC and Zacks cut their views; the current consensus is Hold with a $66.22 target.
• Methanex recently reported Q1 EPS of $0.30, missing estimates, while revenue of $957.4 million was slightly below expectations but still up 8.7% year over year.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Methanex from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Methanex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.22.

Methanex Price Performance

Methanex stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.66. 575,802 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,636. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -99.31 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $957.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.76 million. Methanex had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Methanex will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MEOH. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new position in shares of Methanex in the first quarter worth about $2,507,000. Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. bought a new stake in Methanex during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,131,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Methanex by 202.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 681,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $40,571,000 after buying an additional 455,975 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Methanex by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 76,469 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,553,000 after buying an additional 9,550 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new position in Methanex in the 1st quarter worth about $252,000. 73.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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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