Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 23,422 Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 23,422 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,170,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii lifted its stake in Methanex by 4.2% during the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 11,470 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Methanex during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Methanex by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Methanex Price Performance

Shares of MEOH opened at $38.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.42. Methanex Co. has a twelve month low of $35.67 and a twelve month high of $56.43.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.30. Methanex had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 10.97%. As a group, research analysts expect that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price 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, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.63.

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.