Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $48.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Benchmark Electronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.33.

Benchmark Electronics Trading Up 2.8 %

BHE opened at $46.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Benchmark Electronics has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $52.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 1.00.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $658.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.00 million. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 2.32% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS.

Benchmark Electronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Benchmark Electronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeff Benck sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,469,540.70. This trade represents a 5.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rhonda R. Turner sold 6,000 shares of Benchmark Electronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.98, for a total value of $281,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,617.18. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Benchmark Electronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Benchmark Electronics during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Benchmark Electronics by 161.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.29% of the company’s stock.

About Benchmark Electronics

Benchmark Electronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company provides engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services.