Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) Short Interest Update

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 623,100 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the November 30th total of 787,600 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 318,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MEOH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC restated an "outperformer" rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of Methanex in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Methanex from $62.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Methanex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.25.

Methanex Price Performance

NASDAQ MEOH traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.00. 303,593 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 303,321. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.72. Methanex has a 1 year low of $36.13 and a 1 year high of $56.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90 and a beta of 1.40.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Methanex's payout ratio is 34.58%.

Institutional Trading of Methanex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Methanex by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,136,436 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $55,406,000 after acquiring an additional 159,542 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Methanex by 1,495.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 138,827 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,739,000 after buying an additional 130,127 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Methanex during the second quarter valued at about $5,971,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 9.9% during the third quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,182,168 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $49,022,000 after buying an additional 106,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Methanex by 25.7% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 463,795 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $22,387,000 after buying an additional 94,899 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company's stock.

Methanex Company Profile

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.