Belden (NYSE:BDC) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Separately, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $102.25.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $83.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.34. Belden has a twelve month low of $60.54 and a twelve month high of $99.13.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $551.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.06 million. Belden had a return on equity of 25.11% and a net margin of 9.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Belden will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,835.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BDC. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Belden by 326.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors purchased a new stake in Belden in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $238,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Belden by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,865,000 after buying an additional 8,305 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Belden by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its holdings in Belden by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 8,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 1,687 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.