Belden (NYSE:BDC) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $120.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Belden traded as high as $109.00 and last traded at $108.83, with a volume of 139299 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.29.

BDC has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Belden in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Belden presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.79, for a total value of $122,148.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,385 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,074.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 1,262 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.79, for a total value of $122,148.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,385 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,074.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Nancy E. Calderon sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.98, for a total value of $239,950.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,444.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,137 shares of company stock worth $1,095,457 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Belden during the first quarter worth $32,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Trading Up 3.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $604.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.32 million. Belden had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.