Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Down 8.4% in March

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 989,500 shares, a decrease of 8.4% from the March 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 284,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

Insider Activity at Belden

In other Belden news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,791,835.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Belden during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Belden in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Belden by 403.4% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 287.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Belden by 153.6% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Belden Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BDC stock traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $84.55. The stock had a trading volume of 182,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,266. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.73. Belden has a 1 year low of $60.54 and a 1 year high of $99.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.34. Belden had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.11%. The company 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 firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Belden will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid 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 (DPR) is 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.