Raymond James Equities Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) – Raymond James upped their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for Methanex in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James analyst S. Hansen now forecasts that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings of $0.27 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.19. Raymond James has a “Outperform” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Methanex’s current full-year earnings is $2.35 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Methanex’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.70 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.47 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.35 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.79 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.65 EPS.

MEOH has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Methanex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Methanex from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.50.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of Methanex stock opened at $47.91 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Methanex has a 1-year low of $38.18 and a 1-year high of $51.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 1.50.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.24. Methanex had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The business had revenue of $922.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.21 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Methanex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Methanex by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Methanex by 1,158.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,271 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Methanex by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,884 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.08%.

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.