Wall Street Zen Upgrades Belden (NYSE:BDC) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Belden (NYSE:BDC) has been upgraded from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts about the company's prospects.
• Benchmark raised Belden's target price from $120.00 to $130.00, while the average target is now $132.75 following strong quarterly earnings results that surpassed expectations.
• Major institutional investors, including Norges Bank and Invesco Ltd., have significantly increased their stakes in Belden, indicating strong confidence in the company's future performance.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Belden in a report on Friday, July 11th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Belden currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $132.75.

Belden Stock Performance

BDC stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.39. The company had a trading volume of 235,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,614. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 1.24. Belden has a 1-year low of $83.18 and a 1-year high of $131.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.12. Belden had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 8.35%. The firm had revenue of $624.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $615.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $26,250.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 30,170 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,518.80. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 7,158 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.51, for a total value of $934,190.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 39,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,164,802.74. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Belden in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Belden in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 208.7% during the 4th 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 34.7% during the 1st 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. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Belden Company Profile

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.