Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Holdings in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 717,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,623 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 1.07% of Methanex worth $35,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Methanex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted 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 buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Methanex by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at $166,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MEOH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank lowered Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James increased their target price on Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Methanex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.63.

Methanex Stock Performance

Shares of Methanex stock opened at $28.72 on Friday. Methanex Co. has a 12 month low of $27.35 and a 12 month high of $56.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

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

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. 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.