Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Update

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 871,500 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 920,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 260,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Belden news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total transaction of $386,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $855,751.26. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Belden in the third quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 72.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Belden in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Belden by 97.7% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Belden during the second quarter worth approximately $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Performance

NYSE BDC opened at $118.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 1.08. Belden has a 1-year low of $71.20 and a 1-year high of $131.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $120.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.41.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $654.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.63 million. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Belden will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark raised their price objective on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $122.75.

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.