Belden (NYSE:BDC) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BDC. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $130.25.

Belden Stock Up 12.8 %

Belden stock traded up $11.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.28. The stock had a trading volume of 458,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,572. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $105.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.02. Belden has a 12 month low of $80.90 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 1.07.

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Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Belden's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.16%.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In related news, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $234,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,480. This represents a 17.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,776.79. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Belden in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,723,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Belden during the 4th quarter valued at $54,167,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 189.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,386,000 after acquiring an additional 52,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 15.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,973 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,432,000 after acquiring an additional 23,936 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

About Belden

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.