Granite Investment Partners LLC Sells 98,982 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Granite Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 33.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 98,982 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.48% of Belden worth $18,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 198.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 8,169 shares in the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 53,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 99,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,195,000 after purchasing an additional 7,340 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Belden by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 985,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,113,000 after buying an additional 149,263 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Belden by 1,724.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 104,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,651,000 after buying an additional 98,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Belden stock opened at $110.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.31 and a 200 day moving average of $93.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55 and a beta of 1.07. Belden Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.54 and a 1 year high of $110.34.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $604.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.32 million. Belden had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 21.13%. Belden’s revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other Belden news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,919,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Nancy E. Calderon sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.98, for a total value of $239,950.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,954 shares in the company, valued at $667,444.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lieser sold 819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $74,741.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,289.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,137 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,457 over the last 90 days. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BDC. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Belden in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Belden from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Belden from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.50.

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.