Methode Electronics Inc. (MEI) Laughs In The Face Of Mixed Results, Shares Soar

Hedge fund guru Jim Simons is very bullish on Methode Electronics Inc. (NYSE:MEI), having boosted his stake in the company by 152% during the second quarter. His fund holds the largest stake in Methode Electronics among the funds that we track, consisting of 1.1 million shares valued at more than $36.2 million following today’s spike. Joel Greenblatt also added to his stake in the company in the second quarter, by 19% to 772,644 shares worth an estimated $25.3 million. Chuck Royce, on the other hand, chose to reduce his exposure to Methode Electronics Inc. (NYSE:MEI), dumping almost half of his position and leaving his mutual fund, Royce & Associates, with a holding of 485,496 shares.

So far this year Methode Electronics Inc.(NYSE:MEI) is down by 10.5%, following a massive fall at the end of June due to lower guidance paired with revenues for the previous quarter coming in below estimates. Since then, the stock went sideways until today’s earnings report, which could provide it with the necessary boost to recover the ground lost over the past two months. Methode Electronics is trading at a trailing Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio of 13, lower than the industry average of just over 15. The company also pays an annual dividend of $0.36, which represents a yield of 1.30%. The latest change in broker sentiment toward the company came on June 16, when Robert W. Baird downgraded the company to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ and set a price target of $52 on it; the stock collapsed soon afterwards.

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