Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Update

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 895,300 shares, a decrease of 17.9% from the February 13th total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 273,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Belden Stock Up 0.8 %

Belden stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.76. 239,109 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,795. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.85. Belden has a 12 month low of $80.90 and a 12 month high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. As a group, analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.25.

Insider Activity at Belden

In other Belden news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. This trade represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value of $275,448.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774. 1.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Belden during the third quarter valued at $687,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Belden by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,801,000 after buying an additional 19,849 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Belden by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 32.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Belden by 189.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,386,000 after acquiring an additional 52,439 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

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.