Bel Fuse Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Bel Fuse Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 355,500 shares, a drop of 5.0% from the August 15th total of 374,300 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 69,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Bel Fuse Price Performance

BELFB opened at $68.93 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.76 and a current ratio of 4.19. Bel Fuse has a 52 week low of $39.13 and a 52 week high of $76.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $869.90 million, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.34.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.58. Bel Fuse had a net margin of 11.81% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The firm had revenue of $133.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bel Fuse will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Bel Fuse Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Bel Fuse’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BELFB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Bel Fuse from $68.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bel Fuse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Northland Securities raised shares of Bel Fuse from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Northland Capmk raised shares of Bel Fuse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bel Fuse

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Bel Fuse in the 4th quarter valued at $1,061,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Bel Fuse in the 1st quarter valued at $1,532,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bel Fuse in the 1st quarter valued at $760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bel Fuse by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,716 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,658,000 after acquiring an additional 21,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Bel Fuse during the 1st quarter worth about $407,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.39% of the company’s stock.

Bel Fuse Company Profile

Bel Fuse Inc designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Macao, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Germany, India, Switzerland, and internationally.