Short Interest in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Increases By 6.8%

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 997,400 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the August 31st total of 933,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 282,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,289.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 6,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total value of $658,615.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,001.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,137 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,457 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at $409,000. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Belden in the second quarter valued at $228,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Belden by 17.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Belden by 42.7% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 16,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,547 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Belden Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE BDC opened at $116.07 on Wednesday. Belden has a 52 week low of $60.54 and a 52 week high of $118.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $604.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.32 million. Belden had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 8.51%. Belden’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Belden will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. Belden’s payout ratio is 3.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BDC. Truist Financial increased their target price on Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Belden in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Belden from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

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.