Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.20.

BDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Belden Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $108.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 1.24. Belden has a twelve month low of $83.18 and a twelve month high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $624.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $615.81 million. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. Belden’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $26,250.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BDC. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Belden by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Belden by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Belden by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Belden by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Belden by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

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.