Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its position in Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI) by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,429 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 32,871 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.33% of Methode Electronics worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Methode Electronics by 1,600.0% in the 3rd 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 grew its stake 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 period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Methode Electronics by 685.1% in 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 position in shares of Methode Electronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Methode Electronics by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,062 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Methode Electronics

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

Methode Electronics Trading Down 9.2 %

NYSE:MEI opened at $12.73 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $448.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.03 and a beta of 0.81. Methode Electronics, Inc. has a one year low of $8.54 and a one year high of $23.41. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.78.

Methode Electronics (NYSE:MEI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The electronics maker reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.31. Methode Electronics had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 13.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Methode Electronics, Inc. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Methode Electronics Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Methode Electronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MEI. StockNews.com raised Methode Electronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Methode Electronics from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday.

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.