Methode Electronics, Inc. (MEI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 on May 2nd

Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:MEI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the electronics maker on Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th.

Methode Electronics has raised its dividend by an average of 1.9% per year over the last three years. Methode Electronics has a payout ratio of 53.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

NYSE:MEI opened at $6.71 on Friday. Methode Electronics has a one year low of $5.84 and a one year high of $17.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market cap of $239.49 million, a PE ratio of -2.65 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.63.

Methode Electronics (NYSE:MEI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The electronics maker reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.04). Methode Electronics had a negative net margin of 8.16% and a negative return on equity of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $239.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.33) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Methode Electronics will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MEI shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Methode Electronics from $14.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sidoti raised Methode Electronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Lars Ullrich purchased 15,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.69 per share, for a total transaction of $101,353.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,353.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jonathan B. Degaynor purchased 32,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.46 per share, with a total value of $211,455.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,455.18. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.