Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Update

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 960,300 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the October 15th total of 899,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 270,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total transaction of $386,460.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,751.26. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Belden by 3.1% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 12,564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Belden by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Belden by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 43,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,984,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 1st quarter worth $256,000. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BDC. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Belden in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Belden has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.75.

Belden Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BDC traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $118.42. 39,044 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,241. 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 $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $116.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.23. Belden has a 52-week low of $65.52 and a 52-week high of $131.82.

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

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.65%.

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.