Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Acquires 24,189 Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 589.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,291 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,189 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Methanex were worth $1,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Methanex by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 989,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,393,000 after purchasing an additional 262,087 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Methanex by 4,776.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 881,823 shares during the period. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Methanex by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 439,069 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,327,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Methanex by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 257,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,876,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MEOH. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank cut Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Methanex from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.63.

Methanex Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MEOH opened at $37.44 on Friday. Methanex Co. has a 12 month low of $35.67 and a 12 month high of $56.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.55 and a 200-day moving average of $44.36.

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

Methanex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Methanex’s payout ratio is 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.