Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

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

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

Bel Fuse Price Performance

NASDAQ BELFA traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $78.27. The stock had a trading volume of 11,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,769. Bel Fuse has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $106.93. The company has a market cap of $991.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Bel Fuse Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bel Fuse

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BELFA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings 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 worth $10,205,000 after purchasing an additional 45,710 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bel Fuse by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,019 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 11,031 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bel Fuse by 199.9% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 16,419 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 10,945 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the first quarter worth $310,000. Finally, Makaira Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the first quarter worth $288,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.01% of the company's stock.

Bel Fuse Company Profile

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.