Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) Short Interest Down 14.6% in May

Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the April 30th total of 1,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 423,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Benchmark Electronics news, CEO Jeff Benck sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.82, for a total value of $232,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 448,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,398,347.60. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Benchmark Electronics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHE. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 569.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 416,831 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,638,000 after purchasing an additional 354,567 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 815,499 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,024,000 after purchasing an additional 253,730 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics during the 1st quarter worth $6,746,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,153,257 shares of the technology company's stock worth $52,358,000 after purchasing an additional 166,967 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 520.4% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 197,280 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,503,000 after purchasing an additional 165,482 shares during the period. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BHE. Lake Street Capital cut their price target on Benchmark Electronics from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Benchmark Electronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Benchmark Electronics from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Benchmark Electronics Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:BHE traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.32. 233,408 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 321,378. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $35.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.27. Benchmark Electronics has a one year low of $30.73 and a one year high of $52.57. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 0.95.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. Benchmark Electronics had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 2.38%. The business had revenue of $631.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $640.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Benchmark Electronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Benchmark Electronics's payout ratio is 46.90%.

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.