Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $57.67, but opened at $59.76. Methanex shares last traded at $59.1460, with a volume of 37,324 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MEOH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Methanex from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Methanex from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Methanex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.56.

Methanex Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.79 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.70.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Methanex had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 2.07%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Methanex Corporation will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Methanex

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Methanex by 202.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 681,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,571,000 after purchasing an additional 455,975 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Methanex by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 677,610 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,875,000 after acquiring an additional 99,210 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Methanex by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 932,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,020,000 after acquiring an additional 242,662 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter worth about $34,872,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,917,000 after acquiring an additional 336,316 shares during the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation is a Vancouver, Canada–based company and one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of methanol. The company manufactures methanol, a key feedstock for a wide range of chemical products and industrial applications. Methanex markets its product to customers in energy, plastics, paints and coatings, and various chemical sectors, positioning the company as a critical link in the global supply chain for basic chemicals.

The company’s core product, methanol, serves as a building block for downstream chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).