Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Bel Fuse Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFA) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 54,538 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the previous session’s volume of 57,540 shares.The stock last traded at $181.1410 and had previously closed at $176.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BELFA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Bel Fuse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Bel Fuse in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.50.

Bel Fuse Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.79 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.17.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $175.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.01 million. Bel Fuse had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 21.78%.

Bel Fuse Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Bel Fuse’s payout ratio is presently 5.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bel Fuse news, CEO Farouq Salem Ali Tuweiq sold 33,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.00, for a total transaction of $7,948,278.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter E. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.75, for a total transaction of $1,074,375.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,592,471.25. This represents a 23.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 5.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Bel Fuse by 92.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Bel Fuse during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Bel Fuse during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Bel Fuse by 447.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 744 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in Bel Fuse in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Institutional investors own 6.01% of the company’s stock.

Bel Fuse Company Profile

Bel Fuse Inc, incorporated in 1949 and headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, designs and manufactures a broad range of electronic components aimed at ensuring reliable power delivery, circuit protection and signal connectivity. The company operates through two primary segments—Power Solutions Group and Telecom Products Group—serving original equipment manufacturers in multiple end markets, including telecommunications, data communications, consumer electronics, industrial and transportation.

Within its Power Solutions Group, Bel Fuse offers magnetic components such as power and signal transformers, inductors and coils, as well as circuit protection devices including fuses and resettable polyfuses.