Aviance Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,655 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 4,666 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Methode Electronics were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MEI. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Methode Electronics by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,372,124 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $99,903,000 after buying an additional 364,616 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Methode Electronics by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,671,072 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $106,734,000 after acquiring an additional 201,129 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new position in shares of Methode Electronics in the third quarter valued at $4,507,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Methode Electronics by 72.2% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 212,496 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,856,000 after purchasing an additional 89,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Methode Electronics during the fourth quarter valued at $1,603,000. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MEI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Methode Electronics in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Sidoti reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Methode Electronics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th.

Methode Electronics Trading Down 9.6 %

MEI stock traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.36. 691,275 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 497,807. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.03 million, a PE ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.74. Methode Electronics, Inc. has a one year low of $11.09 and a one year high of $46.58.

Methode Electronics (NYSE:MEI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The electronics maker reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $259.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.50 million. Methode Electronics had a negative net margin of 5.09% and a positive return on equity of 0.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Methode Electronics, Inc. will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Methode Electronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Methode Electronics’s payout ratio is -34.15%.

Methode Electronics 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.