Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 871,500 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 920,800 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 260,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 1,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.49, for a total value of $155,556.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,132,956.07. This represents a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Belden during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 72.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Belden during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Belden by 97.7% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Belden in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BDC. Benchmark upped their target price on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.75.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $123.50 on Tuesday. Belden has a 52-week low of $71.20 and a 52-week high of $131.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.25.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $654.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.63 million. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Belden will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Belden’s payout ratio is currently 4.65%.

Belden Company Profile

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.