O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,057 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,346 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Methanex were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MEOH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 4,776.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 881,823 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,301,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,119,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,327,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 36.0% during the fourth 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. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Methanex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.63.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MEOH opened at $28.72 on Friday. Methanex Co. has a 12 month low of $27.35 and a 12 month high of $56.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.