Polen Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Belden Inc by 26.8% during the 1st quarter, now owning 30,665 shares valued at over $3 million.
• Belden Inc reported earnings of $1.89 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue growth of 11.2% year-over-year.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.05 was recently paid out, reflecting an annualized rate of $0.20, and a yield of 0.2%.

Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 26.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,665 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 6,483 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Belden worth $3,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Belden by 37.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,024,497 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,706,000 after purchasing an additional 277,782 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Belden during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,511,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Belden by 234.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 224,363 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,266,000 after acquiring an additional 157,335 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Belden by 380.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 166,354 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,726,000 after acquiring an additional 131,719 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Belden by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 177,397 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $19,977,000 after acquiring an additional 97,265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BDC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Belden in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Belden from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Belden has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Belden Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Belden stock traded down $1.97 during trading on Thursday, reaching $125.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 81,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,375. Belden Inc has a 52-week low of $83.18 and a 52-week high of $132.99. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50-day moving average is $119.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. Belden had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The company had revenue of $671.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $654.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Belden Inc will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Belden's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 7,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.51, for a total transaction of $934,190.58. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.