American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH - Free Report) TSE: MX by 59.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 64,890 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.07% of Methanex worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Methanex by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,840 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,952 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Methanex by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,340,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Methanex by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Methanex by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 8,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Methanex by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. 73.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MEOH has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut shares of Methanex from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Methanex from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. CIBC dropped their price target on shares of Methanex from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Methanex from $57.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.63.

Methanex Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:MEOH traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 844,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,189. Methanex Co. has a 52-week low of $25.46 and a 52-week high of $56.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.15 and a 200-day moving average of $43.37.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Methanex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.