Northern Trust Corp Purchases 31,071 Shares of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 418,234 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 31,071 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.16% of Benchmark Electronics worth $18,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHE. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,024 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,814,000 after buying an additional 48,425 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 6,162 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Benchmark Electronics by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,303 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of Benchmark Electronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,870,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,151 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BHE. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Benchmark Electronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Benchmark Electronics from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Benchmark Electronics

In related 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 transaction of $232,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 448,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,398,347.60. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Benchmark Electronics Stock Performance

Shares of BHE traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.03. The stock had a trading volume of 263,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,878. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.27. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a one year low of $30.73 and a one year high of $52.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $631.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $640.00 million. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 2.38% and a return on equity of 6.68%. The business's revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS.

Benchmark Electronics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Benchmark Electronics's dividend payout ratio is 46.90%.

Benchmark Electronics Profile

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.