Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,116,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 37,658 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Methanex were worth $105,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Methanex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Methanex by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Methanex by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MEOH shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lowered Methanex from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $36.00 in a report on Monday. Scotiabank downgraded Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, CIBC decreased their target price on Methanex from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.63.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $25.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62. Methanex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.57 and a fifty-two week high of $56.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.03%.

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.