Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Up 6.8% in September

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 997,400 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the August 31st total of 933,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 282,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BDC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Belden from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Belden in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.79, for a total transaction of $122,148.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,812,074.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.79, for a total transaction of $122,148.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,812,074.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,289.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,137 shares of company stock worth $1,095,457. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Belden by 662.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Belden in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Belden by 33,500.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Belden during the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,000. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Belden Stock Performance

Belden stock traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $116.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 194,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,849. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Belden has a twelve month low of $60.54 and a twelve month high of $118.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $102.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. Belden had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $604.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Belden will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.91%.

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.