Belden (NYSE:BDC) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.25.

Belden Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $88.99 on Friday. Belden has a twelve month low of $80.90 and a twelve month high of $131.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $107.97 and its 200-day moving average is $114.76.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Belden will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.16%.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,480. This represents a 17.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BDC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Belden by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,623 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Belden by 0.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 101,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,851,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Belden by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 34,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,055,000 after acquiring an additional 8,805 shares during the period. 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.