Belden (NYSE:BDC) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $100.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Belden from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Belden from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $102.40.

Belden Trading Down 0.6 %

BDC opened at $87.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.83. Belden has a fifty-two week low of $60.54 and a fifty-two week high of $99.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $536.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.27 million. Belden had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 23.11%. Belden’s revenue was down 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Belden will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,791,835.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BDC. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Belden by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 3,701 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Belden by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 36,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 662.2% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Belden by 9.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,507 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 105,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

About Belden

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.