Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $130.25.

BDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction of $275,448.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. The trade was a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Belden by 208.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Belden in the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Belden by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Belden by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Belden Stock Down 5.3 %

BDC traded down $5.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $93.09. 157,257 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,162. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.07. Belden has a one year low of $80.90 and a one year high of $131.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $105.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.16%.

About Belden

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.