Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Update

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the November 30th total of 871,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 257,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Belden news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total value of $386,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,751.26. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Belden

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 72.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Belden in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Belden by 97.7% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Belden by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BDC traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $112.61. The stock had a trading volume of 303,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,557. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.59. The company has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 1.08. Belden has a 1-year low of $71.20 and a 1-year high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $654.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.63 million. Belden had a return on equity of 20.55% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Belden will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $122.75.

Belden Company Profile

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.