New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 38.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,020 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Methanex were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Methanex by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Hawaii raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 4.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 11,470 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Methanex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Methanex by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP grew its position in Methanex by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 7,366 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MEOH shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Methanex from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned 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 $62.25.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.54 and a 200 day moving average of $45.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 1.36. Methanex Co. has a 52 week low of $36.13 and a 52 week high of $56.43.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 4.41%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.03%.

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.