Aviance Capital Partners LLC Acquires 25,802 Shares of Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI) by 92.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,813 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,802 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC owned 0.15% of Methode Electronics worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Methode Electronics by 1,600.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Methode Electronics by 749.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 5,023 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Methode Electronics by 685.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,730 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Methode Electronics in the second quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Methode Electronics by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,062 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MEI shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Methode Electronics from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Methode Electronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Methode Electronics Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MEI opened at $9.26 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market cap of $326.32 million, a P/E ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 0.76. Methode Electronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.54 and a 52 week high of $25.34.

Methode Electronics (NYSE:MEI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The electronics maker reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $258.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.66 million. Methode Electronics had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 13.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Methode Electronics, Inc. will post -0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Methode Electronics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Methode Electronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -13.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David P. Blom acquired 9,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $100,749.20. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,710.11. The trade was a 33.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary A. Lindsey bought 8,800 shares of Methode Electronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.38 per share, for a total transaction of $100,144.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 25,970 shares in the company, valued at $295,538.60. This represents a 51.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Methode Electronics Company Profile

Methode Electronics, Inc designs, engineers, and produces mechatronic products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Automotive, Industrial, Interface, and Medical. The Automotive segment supplies electronic and electro-mechanical devices, and related products to automobile original equipment manufacturers directly or through their tiered suppliers.