Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,558 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.15% of Belden worth $4,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in Belden by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 29,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Belden by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 17,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after acquiring an additional 5,640 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Belden during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,733,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Belden by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other Belden news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC stock opened at $83.25 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.30. Belden Inc. has a one year low of $60.54 and a one year high of $99.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.05 dividend. 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 is currently 3.53%.

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.