Renaissance Technologies LLC Boosts Stock Position in Methanex Corporation $MEOH

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 38.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,200 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Methanex were worth $9,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,917,000 after acquiring an additional 336,316 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Methanex by 629.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,763 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Methanex by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,048,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,363,000 after purchasing an additional 7,707 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Methanex by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,520,000 after purchasing an additional 518,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Methanex by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,313,615 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,104,000 after purchasing an additional 123,078 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Methanex from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. National Bank Financial set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Methanex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Methanex from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Methanex from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Methanex from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.56.

Methanex Price Performance

MEOH stock opened at $55.55 on Monday. Methanex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.93 and a beta of 0.58.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Methanex had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 2.07%.The firm’s revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Methanex Corporation will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is 71.84%.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation is a Vancouver, Canada–based company and one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of methanol. The company manufactures methanol, a key feedstock for a wide range of chemical products and industrial applications. Methanex markets its product to customers in energy, plastics, paints and coatings, and various chemical sectors, positioning the company as a critical link in the global supply chain for basic chemicals.

The company’s core product, methanol, serves as a building block for downstream chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).