Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,100 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Benchmark Electronics worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 892,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,658,000 after buying an additional 30,941 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 61.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 28,784 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Benchmark Electronics during the first quarter worth about $430,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 291,592 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,060,000 after buying an additional 41,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 183,278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,066,000 after buying an additional 71,024 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.29% of the company’s stock.

Benchmark Electronics Price Performance

BHE stock opened at $42.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.11 and a 200-day moving average of $36.60. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.66 and a 12-month high of $48.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28 and a beta of 0.99.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $666.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Benchmark Electronics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Benchmark Electronics’s payout ratio is 36.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Stephen Mccreary sold 7,073 shares of Benchmark Electronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.70, for a total transaction of $302,017.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,794,552.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BHE shares. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Benchmark Electronics from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Benchmark Electronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Fox Advisors lowered Benchmark Electronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Benchmark Electronics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Benchmark Electronics Profile

Benchmark Electronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company provides engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services.