Belden (NYSE:BDC) Reaches New 52-Week Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• Belden shares hit a 52-week low, trading as low as $95 before last changing hands at $97.62, down from the previous close of $105.15.
• Analyst views remain broadly positive but mixed: Belden has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $156 average price target, alongside recent rating downgrades and target cuts.
• Latest quarterly results showed EPS of $2.26, in line with estimates, while revenue of $965.95 million topped forecasts and rose 38.3% year over year.

Shares of Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $95.00 and last traded at $97.6150, with a volume of 260,821 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $105.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Belden in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Belden from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.00.

Belden Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $110.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 1.16.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The business had revenue of $965.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.91 million. Belden had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 5.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Belden Inc will post 8.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Belden's payout ratio is currently 4.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Belden by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 23,192 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 12,219 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Belden during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $616,536,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,477,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,135,000. Finally, Kerrisdale Advisers LLC boosted its position in Belden by 1,440.9% in the second quarter. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC now owns 143,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $17,147,000 after buying an additional 133,720 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Belden Company Profile

Belden Inc NYSE: BDC is a global provider of signal transmission and networking solutions. The company designs and manufactures products that support the secure movement of data, audio and video across enterprise, industrial and broadcast environments.

Its product portfolio includes copper and fiber-optic cable, connectors, patching and rack systems, industrial Ethernet equipment, network infrastructure, cybersecurity and software-enabled solutions. Belden's offerings are used in applications such as industrial automation, transportation, energy, enterprise networking, data centers, smart buildings and professional broadcasting.

Founded in 1902, Belden serves customers through operations and distribution channels spanning North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets.

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