Belden (NYSE:BDC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $116.29, but opened at $110.82. Belden shares last traded at $110.89, with a volume of 27,911 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.75.

Belden Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $117.23 and a 200 day moving average of $112.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BDC. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $525,485,000 after buying an additional 576,768 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Belden by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,574,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,532,000 after purchasing an additional 100,145 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Belden by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Belden by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 708,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,939,000 after purchasing an additional 68,151 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,432,000 after buying an additional 23,936 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.