Benchmark Boosts Belden (NYSE:BDC) Price Target to $120.00

Belden (NYSE:BDC) had its price target raised by Benchmark from $115.00 to $120.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

BDC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Belden in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $112.50.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC stock opened at $112.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.95 and a 200-day moving average of $94.05. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Belden has a one year low of $60.54 and a one year high of $112.87.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $604.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.32 million. Belden had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Belden will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.79, for a total value of $122,148.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,385 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,074.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,919,289.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,137 shares of company stock worth $1,095,457 over the last quarter. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BDC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Belden by 2.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,383,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $128,148,000 after purchasing an additional 30,268 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Belden by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 985,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,113,000 after purchasing an additional 149,263 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Belden by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 914,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,678,000 after purchasing an additional 224,486 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Belden by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 611,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,245,000 after purchasing an additional 72,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Belden by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 534,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,299,000 after purchasing an additional 71,118 shares during the last quarter. 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.