Belden (NYSE:BDC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

BDC has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Belden in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Benchmark upped their price target on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.75.

Belden Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE BDC opened at $129.82 on Friday. Belden has a 12 month low of $83.18 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The company has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.78.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $624.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $615.81 million. Belden had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 8.35%. Belden’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Belden will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 12th. Belden’s payout ratio is currently 3.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Belden news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 7,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.51, for a total value of $934,190.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 39,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,164,802.74. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $26,250.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 30,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 234.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 224,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,266,000 after acquiring an additional 157,335 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 108,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,889,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,167,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group acquired a new stake in Belden during the 1st quarter valued at $454,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.