Bel Fuse Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB) Short Interest Up 19.9% in February

Bel Fuse Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 390,900 shares, an increase of 19.9% from the January 31st total of 325,900 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 76,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the 4th quarter worth about $148,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,197 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the 4th quarter worth about $298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BELFB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Bel Fuse from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Bel Fuse in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Bel Fuse from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $100.00.

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Bel Fuse Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:BELFB traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.80. 83,232 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 90,228. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.12. Bel Fuse has a twelve month low of $53.74 and a twelve month high of $92.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.92. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $81.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.85.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The electronics maker reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($1.10). Bel Fuse had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $149.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $126.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bel Fuse will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bel Fuse Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Bel Fuse's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.56%.

About Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse Inc designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that power, protect, and connect electronic circuits. The company's products are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries.