Methode Electronics, Inc. (MEI) To Go Ex-Dividend on January 17th

Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the electronics maker on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th.

Methode Electronics has increased its dividend by an average of 8.4% per year over the last three years. Methode Electronics has a payout ratio of 90.3% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect Methode Electronics to earn $0.37 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 151.4%.

Methode Electronics Stock Performance

Shares of MEI stock opened at $13.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $460.59 million, a P/E ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.83. Methode Electronics has a 52 week low of $8.54 and a 52 week high of $23.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Methode Electronics (NYSE:MEI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The electronics maker reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.31. Methode Electronics had a negative return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Methode Electronics will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MEI shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Methode Electronics from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Methode Electronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

About Methode Electronics

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.