New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 11,020 Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 38.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,020 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Methanex were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Methanex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Methanex during the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Methanex during the 3rd quarter valued at $294,000. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MEOH shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Methanex from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Methanex from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.25.

Methanex Trading Down 5.8 %

MEOH stock opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.04. Methanex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.13 and a fifty-two week high of $56.43. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s payout ratio is 32.03%.

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.