Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Down 17.9% in February

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in 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. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 273,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective 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, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Belden presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.25.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of BDC stock traded up $2.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.58. The company had a trading volume of 229,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,569. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $112.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.82. Belden has a 52-week low of $80.90 and a 52-week high of $131.82. The company has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 1.02.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other Belden news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 represents a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,480. The trade was a 17.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDC. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Belden in the third quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Belden by 208.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Belden by 97.7% during 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, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. 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.