Methanex stock cheap, but ATR issue raises questions, says Barclays

Methanex (MEOH) announced Sunday night that its 1.8MMT Geismar 3 methanol plant was impacted by an unplanned outage in late February that will require downtime and repairs until early May, Barclays analyst Michael Leithead tells investors in a research note. The stock appears cheap on a pro-forma, mid-cycle basis, but the second autothermal reformer issue at Geismar 3 in a year potentially raises operational questions, the analyst says, adding that falling spot methanol prices despite unplanned disruptions reinforce the weak demand backdrop. The firm made no change to its Equal Weight rating or $57 price target on the shares.