Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.25.

BDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of Belden stock traded down $5.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $93.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 157,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,162. Belden has a 52 week low of $80.90 and a 52 week high of $131.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. Equities analysts forecast that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.16%.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value of $275,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,480. This trade represents a 17.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,167,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,710,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,418,000 after buying an additional 223,887 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,511,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Belden by 234.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 224,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,266,000 after acquiring an additional 157,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 380.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 166,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,726,000 after acquiring an additional 131,719 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.