Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on BELFB. Wall Street Zen lowered Bel Fuse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Bel Fuse in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Bel Fuse from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Bel Fuse in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $99.60.

Bel Fuse Stock Up 2.4%

BELFB opened at $79.57 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Bel Fuse has a one year low of $58.00 and a one year high of $92.61.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.50. Bel Fuse had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 7.66%. The company had revenue of $152.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.93 million. Equities research analysts expect that Bel Fuse will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bel Fuse Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Bel Fuse’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bel Fuse

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in Bel Fuse by 147.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 383 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Bel Fuse in the fourth quarter worth approximately $148,000. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bel Fuse in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 40.6% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,959 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the period. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in Bel Fuse during the 1st quarter valued at $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.39% of the company’s stock.

About Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse Inc designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that power, protect, and connect electronic circuits. The company’s products are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries.