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

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the February 29th total of 901,500 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 276,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,835.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BDC. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Belden by 88.0% in the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Belden during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 287.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 153.6% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 403.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Belden currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

Belden Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Belden stock opened at $90.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.30. Belden has a 52-week low of $60.54 and a 52-week high of $99.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.33.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.34. Belden had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.11%. The business had revenue of $551.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Belden will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. Belden’s payout ratio is currently 3.53%.

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.