Belden (NYSE:BDC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to "Buy"

StockNews.com lowered shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.75.

Belden Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of BDC stock traded down $1.22 on Friday, reaching $116.36. 209,607 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,166. Belden has a 12-month low of $72.91 and a 12-month high of $131.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average price is $118.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.29.

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

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Belden's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $855,751.26. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Belden

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BDC. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Belden by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Belden by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 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.