Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Receives $126.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.20.

Several analysts recently issued reports on BDC shares. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,776.79. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $26,250.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BDC. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Belden in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Belden in the first quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Belden by 208.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Belden by 34.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 446 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Belden in the first quarter worth $47,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Belden Stock Down 1.4%

BDC stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.13. The company had a trading volume of 216,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,083. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06 and a beta of 1.24. Belden has a 52 week low of $83.18 and a 52 week high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.12. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $624.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. Belden's payout ratio is presently 3.86%.

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.