Wall Street Zen Downgrades Belden (NYSE:BDC) to Buy

Belden (NYSE:BDC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Belden from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Belden in a report on Friday, July 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Belden Stock Performance

BDC stock opened at $117.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.07. Belden has a fifty-two week low of $83.18 and a fifty-two week high of $132.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. Belden had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The company had revenue of $671.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $654.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Belden’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other Belden news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 7,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.51, for a total transaction of $934,190.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,164,802.74. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $26,250.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 30,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,518.80. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,710,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $530,418,000 after purchasing an additional 223,887 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,071,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,328,000 after purchasing an additional 28,336 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,706,000 after purchasing an additional 277,782 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 821,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,319,000 after purchasing an additional 125,722 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 711,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,154,000 after purchasing an additional 3,692 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.