First Eagle Investment Management LLC Sells 23,150 Shares of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 277,579 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 23,150 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.77% of Benchmark Electronics worth $10,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Benchmark Electronics by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,845,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $145,405,000 after purchasing an additional 159,716 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Benchmark Electronics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,012,717 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,881,000 after acquiring an additional 12,112 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,351,157 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,986,000 after acquiring an additional 42,570 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 902,475 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,944,000 after acquiring an additional 243,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $24,658,000 after purchasing an additional 30,941 shares during the period. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Benchmark Electronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Benchmark Electronics Price Performance

Shares of BHE stock opened at $44.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.79. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.66 and a 52-week high of $48.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Benchmark Electronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Benchmark Electronics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Benchmark Electronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Benchmark Electronics news, Director Jeffrey Stephen Mccreary sold 7,073 shares of Benchmark Electronics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,552.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.