Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 960,300 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the October 15th total of 899,600 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 270,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Vertical Research assumed coverage on Belden in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.75.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDC traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.57. 141,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,698. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.07. Belden has a twelve month low of $65.52 and a twelve month high of $131.82. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $116.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.45.

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

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. Belden's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.65%.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total value of $386,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $855,751.26. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BDC. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Belden in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Belden during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.