New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH - Free Report) TSE: MX by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,427 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 11,020 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Methanex were worth $870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Methanex by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Methanex by 64.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 8,047 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Methanex by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Methanex during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,092,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MEOH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.25.

Methanex Stock Performance

NASDAQ MEOH traded up $1.22 on Wednesday, reaching $41.31. 318,002 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 321,504. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.01. Methanex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.13 and a fifty-two week high of $56.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH - Get Free Report) TSE: MX last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Methanex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.