Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Sells 409 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 50,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of Belden worth $3,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 588.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,673,000 after acquiring an additional 29,585 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 75.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 27,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 11,651 shares in the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in shares of Belden by 22.4% during the third quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 53,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,178,000 after acquiring an additional 9,801 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Belden by 7.6% in the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 710,014 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,552,000 after purchasing an additional 50,256 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Belden by 10.4% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 112,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,890,000 after purchasing an additional 10,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of BDC stock opened at $81.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.94 and its 200 day moving average is $78.57. Belden Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.54 and a twelve month high of $99.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

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

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.53%.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total value of $169,208.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,791,835.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Truist Financial upped their price target on Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

Belden 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.