StockNews.com Upgrades Belden (NYSE:BDC) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of BDC stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $88.23. The company had a trading volume of 278,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Belden has a 52-week low of $60.54 and a 52-week high of $99.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.19. Belden had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 23.11%. The company had revenue of $536.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Belden will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Belden’s payout ratio is currently 3.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total value of $169,208.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,772 shares in the company, valued at $1,791,835.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 662.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Belden in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 33,500.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Company Profile

Belden Inc designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of signal transmission solutions for mission critical applications in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates in two segments, Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Automation Solutions. The Enterprise Solutions segment offers copper cable and connectivity solutions, fiber cable and connectivity solutions, interconnect panels, racks and enclosures, and signal extension and matrix switching systems for use in applications, such as local area networks, data centers, access control, 5G, fiber to the home, and building automation.