Belden (NYSE:BDC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 247,432 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the previous session’s volume of 254,546 shares.The stock last traded at $104.01 and had previously closed at $106.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Belden currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.25.

Belden Stock Down 2.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $111.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.77.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. As a group, analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Belden news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value of $275,448.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,776.79. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 in the last quarter. 1.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Belden during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Belden in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Belden by 208.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Belden by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Belden during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.