Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 767,330 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,301,000. Methanex makes up about 1.9% of Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners boosted its position in Methanex by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 989,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,393,000 after buying an additional 262,087 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Methanex by 4,776.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 900,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 881,823 shares in the last quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. boosted 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 worth $21,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Methanex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,327,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Methanex by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 257,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,876,000 after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MEOH shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Methanex from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Methanex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Methanex in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded 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 research note on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Methanex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.63.

Methanex Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of MEOH opened at $37.44 on Friday. Methanex Co. has a 52-week low of $35.67 and a 52-week high of $56.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.36. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Methanex Co. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. 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 is presently 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.