Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.67.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Belden from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Belden in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Belden from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, Director David J. Aldrich sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total transaction of $651,173.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 53,396 shares in the company, valued at $5,189,557.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 1,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.29, for a total value of $156,345.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,917.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. Aldrich sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total value of $651,173.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,189,557.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,981 shares of company stock worth $1,348,740. 1.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BDC. Norges Bank bought a new position in Belden during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,403,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Belden by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 914,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,678,000 after buying an additional 224,486 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Belden by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 919,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,998,000 after buying an additional 209,052 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Belden by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 985,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,113,000 after buying an additional 149,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new position in Belden during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,659,000. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Price Performance

BDC stock opened at $98.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.79. Belden has a 12-month low of $60.54 and a 12-month high of $102.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. Belden had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $604.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $574.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Belden will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.91%.

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.