Barclays Increases Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Price Target to $54.00

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MEOH. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Methanex from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Methanex from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. CIBC restated an “outperformer” rating and set a $59.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Methanex in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Methanex Stock Performance

MEOH opened at $49.85 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Methanex has a 1-year low of $36.13 and a 1-year high of $56.43.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 4.12%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Methanex will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Methanex by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Methanex by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii raised its position in Methanex by 4.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 11,470 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in Methanex by 10.4% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 5,642 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Methanex by 3.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 21,701 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.