Belden (NYSE:BDC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

BDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $128.20.

Belden Stock Up 1.9%

BDC stock opened at $111.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.66. Belden has a fifty-two week low of $83.18 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $624.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $615.81 million. Belden had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $26,250.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,518.80. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Belden during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Belden during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Belden by 208.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Belden during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.