CIBC Cuts Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target to $55.00

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price objective reduced by CIBC from $63.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. CIBC currently has an outperformer rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Cibc World Mkts raised Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.63.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $28.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.06. Methanex has a 52 week low of $27.35 and a 52 week high of $56.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.47 and a 200-day moving average of $43.99.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 10.97%. As a group, analysts forecast that Methanex will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.03%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Methanex by 4,776.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after buying an additional 881,823 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter worth $38,301,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex during the fourth quarter worth $34,119,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Methanex during the fourth quarter valued at $26,835,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,327,000. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.