Belden (NYSE:BDC) Shares Gap Up to $99.05

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $99.05, but opened at $103.26. Belden shares last traded at $100.89, with a volume of 15,577 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on BDC shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on Belden from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Belden from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Belden in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.67.

Belden Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.14. Belden had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 8.51%. The firm had revenue of $604.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Belden’s payout ratio is currently 3.91%.

Insider Activity at Belden

In other news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 6,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total transaction of $658,615.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,298,001.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 6,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total value of $658,615.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,001.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Nancy E. Calderon sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.98, for a total value of $239,950.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $667,444.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,137 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,457. 1.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDC. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 662.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Belden in the first quarter worth $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

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.