Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) Upgraded by Baird R W to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Baird R W upgraded shares of Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Craig Hallum set a $115.00 price target on Bel Fuse and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Bel Fuse Price Performance

Shares of Bel Fuse stock traded up $1.80 on Monday, hitting $77.80. 55,426 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,556. Bel Fuse has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $106.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $985.49 million, a P/E ratio of 25.18 and a beta of 1.05.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.29. Bel Fuse had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The company had revenue of $152.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.60 million.

Bel Fuse Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Bel Fuse's payout ratio is presently 7.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bel Fuse

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 113,291 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $10,205,000 after purchasing an additional 45,710 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 43,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bel Fuse by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,861 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,321,000 after purchasing an additional 3,167 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bel Fuse by 19.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 5,876 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Bel Fuse by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,610 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. 6.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse Inc designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that power, protect, and connect electronic circuits. The company's products are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries.