Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Makes New $5.97 Million Investment in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 123,727 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,971,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Methanex by 0.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 39,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Methanex by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 22,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Methanex by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake in Methanex by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 0.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 127,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,681,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MEOH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered Methanex from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Methanex from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Methanex from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Methanex from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.88.

Methanex Stock Performance

MEOH stock opened at $37.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.28. Methanex Co. has a 12 month low of $36.13 and a 12 month high of $56.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $920.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.26 million. Methanex had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 5.44%. Methanex’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Methanex’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

About Methanex

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.