Belden (BDC) Competitors

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) and Belden (NYSE:BDC) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Which has more risk and volatility, AVT or BDC?

Avnet has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Belden has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate AVT or BDC?

Avnet presently has a consensus target price of $49.00, suggesting a potential downside of 8.36%. Belden has a consensus target price of $136.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.99%. Given Belden's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Belden is more favorable than Avnet.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avnet	2 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.33
Belden	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is AVT or BDC more profitable?

Belden has a net margin of 8.60% compared to Avnet's net margin of 1.08%. Belden's return on equity of 23.29% beat Avnet's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avnet	1.08%	6.07%	2.48%
Belden	8.60%	23.29%	8.71%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, AVT or BDC?

Avnet has higher revenue and earnings than Belden. Avnet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Belden, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avnet	$22.20B	0.20	$240.22M	$2.73	19.59
Belden	$2.46B	2.00	$198.43M	$5.52	22.48

Is AVT or BDC a better dividend stock?

Avnet pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Belden pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Avnet pays out 48.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Belden pays out 3.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Avnet has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Avnet is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer AVT or BDC?

In the previous week, Belden had 9 more articles in the media than Avnet. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Belden and 9 mentions for Avnet. Belden's average media sentiment score of 1.04 beat Avnet's score of 0.75 indicating that Belden is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Avnet	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Belden	11 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AVT or BDC?

95.8% of Avnet shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.8% of Belden shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Avnet shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Belden shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Belden beats Avnet on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.