Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 77.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Belden were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 1,365.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,026,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,075,000 after buying an additional 956,136 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Belden by 15.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 820,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,216,000 after acquiring an additional 111,232 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Belden by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,714,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $455,156,000 after purchasing an additional 92,544 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Belden by 156.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 104,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,068,000 after purchasing an additional 63,716 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 710,014 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,552,000 after purchasing an additional 50,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,835.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $83.40 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.03. Belden Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.54 and a 52 week high of $99.13.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.34. Belden had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.11%. The business 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 business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.53%.

Belden 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.