Aviso Financial Inc. Buys 1,507 Shares of Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its position in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,089 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,507 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Methanex were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MEOH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Methanex by 4,776.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after buying an additional 881,823 shares in the last quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Methanex by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 439,069 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Methanex during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,327,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Methanex by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 213,435 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,660,000 after purchasing an additional 8,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Methanex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,400,000. 73.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James raised their price target 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. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Methanex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.63.

Methanex Stock Up 2.6 %

MEOH opened at $37.72 on Friday. Methanex Co. has a twelve month low of $35.67 and a twelve month high of $56.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

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

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Methanex’s payout ratio 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.