Belden’s (BDC) Buy Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $130.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BDC. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $122.75.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $121.02 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $118.42 and its 200-day moving average is $111.71. The firm has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14 and a beta of 1.09. Belden has a 1-year low of $72.91 and a 1-year high of $131.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. Belden had a return on equity of 20.55% and a net margin of 7.61%. The firm had revenue of $654.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Belden will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Belden’s payout ratio is presently 4.65%.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 1,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.49, for a total transaction of $155,556.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,132,956.07. The trade was a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Belden during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Belden by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Belden in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Belden by 97.7% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Belden by 27.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.