The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stock Position in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.08% of Methanex worth $2,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 39,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 22,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 127,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,681,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Methanex Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MEOH opened at $42.78 on Wednesday. Methanex Co. has a 52-week low of $36.13 and a 52-week high of $56.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.85 and a 200-day moving average of $47.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.10. Methanex had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 5.44%. The company had revenue of $920.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MEOH. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Methanex from $51.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Methanex from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Methanex from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Methanex from $62.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.38.

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.