Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total transaction of $386,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $855,751.26. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Belden during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Belden by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Belden in the 2nd quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC stock traded up $0.46 on Tuesday, hitting $112.61. The company had a trading volume of 303,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,557. Belden has a twelve month low of $71.20 and a twelve month high of $131.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $119.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.59.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $654.90 million during 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%. Belden’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Belden will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 4.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark lifted their price target on Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Belden has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.75.

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.