Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH - Free Report) TSE: MX in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 286,893 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $14,327,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.43% of Methanex at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Methanex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Methanex by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Methanex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company's stock.

Methanex Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Methanex stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 194,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,449. Methanex Co. has a one year low of $35.67 and a one year high of $56.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $45.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.36. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Methanex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MEOH shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank cut shares of Methanex from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Methanex from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Methanex in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.