Belden (NYSE:BDC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.20.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of BDC stock opened at $94.89 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.40. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.07. Belden has a twelve month low of $80.90 and a twelve month high of $131.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Belden will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value of $275,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774. 1.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BDC. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 189.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,439 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Belden by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,580,000 after acquiring an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Belden by 5.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 3rd quarter worth about $243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

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.