Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 871,500 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 920,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 260,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on BDC shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark increased their price target on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.75.

Belden Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BDC opened at $113.79 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.45. Belden has a 12 month low of $71.20 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $654.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.63 million. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Belden will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other Belden news, CAO Doug Zink sold 1,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.49, for a total value of $155,556.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,132,956.07. This represents a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BDC. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Belden by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Belden by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Belden during the 2nd quarter worth $95,000. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Company 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.