Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

BELFB has been the topic of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Bel Fuse from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Bel Fuse in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bel Fuse has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Bel Fuse Trading Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:BELFB opened at $84.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 4.00 and a quick ratio of 2.71. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.17. Bel Fuse has a fifty-two week low of $45.74 and a fifty-two week high of $92.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.28.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The electronics maker reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($1.10). The company had revenue of $149.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $126.41 million. Bel Fuse had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 7.66%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Bel Fuse will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bel Fuse Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Bel Fuse’s payout ratio is 8.56%.

Insider Activity at Bel Fuse

In other news, VP Joseph Francis Berry sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.30, for a total transaction of $80,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,023 shares in the company, valued at $644,246.90. This represents a 11.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bel Fuse

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Bel Fuse by 319.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,008 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 12,192 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,321 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,166,000 after purchasing an additional 8,442 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bel Fuse by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 104,645 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $8,630,000 after purchasing an additional 28,860 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bel Fuse by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 289,298 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $22,716,000 after purchasing an additional 6,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Bel Fuse by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 30,387 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793 shares during the period. 58.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse Inc designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that power, protect, and connect electronic circuits. The company’s products are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries.