Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 16.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,136,436 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,542 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Methanex were worth $55,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Methanex by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 908,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,004,000 after buying an additional 15,190 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $34,109,000. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 8,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its position in Methanex by 327.2% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 37,109 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 28,423 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Methanex by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 66,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MEOH has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Methanex from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Methanex from $62.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays downgraded shares of Methanex from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Methanex from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.38.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of MEOH stock opened at $40.36 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.36. Methanex Co. has a 1-year low of $36.13 and a 1-year high of $56.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. Methanex had a return on equity of 5.44% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $920.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.36%.

Methanex Profile

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.