Belden (NYSE:BDC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Belden from $107.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Belden from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $93.00 to $117.00 in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Belden currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $107.80.

Belden Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of BDC opened at $94.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Belden has a 1-year low of $58.53 and a 1-year high of $99.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.74. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.31.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The industrial products company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $692.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.49 million. Belden had a return on equity of 27.11% and a net margin of 10.97%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Belden will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 829 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.34, for a total value of $78,207.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,363 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,025.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.34, for a total transaction of $78,207.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,025.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 7,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.88, for a total transaction of $654,461.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,197,262.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,323 shares of company stock valued at $3,232,904. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Belden by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 52,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 14,895 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Belden during the 1st quarter valued at $961,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Belden by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Belden in the 1st quarter worth about $762,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.16% of the company’s stock.

Belden Company Profile

Belden Inc provides portfolio of signal transmission solutions 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, and home and building automation.