Value Partners Investments Inc. Buys 1,652 Shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,652 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Methanex were worth $270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Methanex during the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Methanex during the 4th quarter valued at about $129,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Methanex by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MEOH has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Methanex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Methanex in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Methanex from $62.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, CIBC dropped their target price on Methanex from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.88.

Methanex Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $33.77 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.96 and its 200 day moving average is $39.62. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 3.17 and a quick ratio of 2.52. Methanex Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.46 and a 1 year high of $54.49.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. Methanex had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $857.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Methanex Corporation will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is 24.83%.

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.