Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Trims Position in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,707 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,522 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned 0.07% of Benchmark Electronics worth $1,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 686 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Benchmark Electronics in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Benchmark Electronics during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 81.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 97.9% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BHE. StockNews.com lowered Benchmark Electronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

Benchmark Electronics Price Performance

BHE stock opened at $43.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.35. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.66 and a 1 year high of $48.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.89.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $666.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.75 million. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 7.17%. Benchmark Electronics’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share.

Benchmark Electronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from Benchmark Electronics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Benchmark Electronics’s payout ratio is 37.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Stephen Mccreary sold 7,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.70, for a total transaction of $302,017.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,027 shares in the company, valued at $1,794,552.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Benchmark Electronics 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.