Jane Street Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

Jane Street Group LLC cut its position in shares of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) by 83.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,383 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 89,673 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Benchmark Electronics were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BHE. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 172.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Benchmark Electronics by 125.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Benchmark Electronics during the 2nd quarter worth $71,000. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BHE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Benchmark Electronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.33.

Benchmark Electronics Price Performance

BHE stock opened at $45.32 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.78. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $52.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35 and a beta of 0.99.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $658.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.00 million. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 2.32% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share.

Benchmark Electronics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Benchmark Electronics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Benchmark Electronics news, CEO Jeff Benck sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,469,540.70. This represents a 5.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rhonda R. Turner sold 6,000 shares of Benchmark Electronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.98, for a total transaction of $281,880.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,617.18. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Benchmark Electronics Company Profile

Benchmark Electronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company provides engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services.