Methanex Co. (MEOH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.19 on March 31st

Methanex Co. (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.185 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th.

Methanex has raised its dividend by an average of 31.6% per year over the last three years. Methanex has a payout ratio of 16.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Methanex to earn $4.85 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.74 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.3%.

Methanex Trading Up 2.6 %

MEOH opened at $37.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.69 and its 200-day moving average is $44.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Methanex has a 1-year low of $35.67 and a 1-year high of $56.43. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.39.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MEOH shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Methanex from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Methanex from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.