Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Update

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the November 30th total of 871,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 257,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Belden Price Performance

Belden stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $112.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 303,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.07. Belden has a fifty-two week low of $71.20 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.59.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Belden will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $855,751.26. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BDC. FMR LLC raised its stake in Belden by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $525,485,000 after purchasing an additional 576,768 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Belden during the third quarter worth about $11,814,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,574,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,532,000 after buying an additional 100,145 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Belden during the third quarter worth approximately $82,320,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Belden by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 708,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,939,000 after acquiring an additional 68,151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BDC. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.75.

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.