Belden Inc. (BDC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.05 on July 9th

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.05 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th.

Belden has a payout ratio of 2.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Belden to earn $8.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 2.4%.

Belden Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of BDC opened at $106.32 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $101.54 and its 200 day moving average is $110.84. Belden has a fifty-two week low of $83.18 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.12. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $624.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $615.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Belden’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $126.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $26,250.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,518.80. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,340,577. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 8.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 131,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,214,000 after acquiring an additional 10,077 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 9.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 78,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,906,000 after acquiring an additional 6,894 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 18.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 58,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,817,000 after acquiring an additional 8,961 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 273.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,918 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Belden in the first quarter worth about $264,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.