Benchmark Increases Belden (NYSE:BDC) Price Target to $115.00

Belden (NYSE:BDC) had its target price upped by Benchmark from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on BDC. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Belden in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price target on Belden from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Belden from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.67.

Belden Stock Down 1.2 %

BDC stock traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $99.35. The company had a trading volume of 625,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.46. Belden has a fifty-two week low of $60.54 and a fifty-two week high of $102.47.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.14. Belden had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 8.51%. The business had revenue of $604.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Belden will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total value of $74,741.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total value of $74,741.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. Aldrich sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,219 shares of company stock worth $986,641 over the last three months. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDC. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Belden in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Belden in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Belden by 662.2% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Belden by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Belden during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.