Belden (NYSE:BDC) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Belden (NYSE:BDC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research downgraded Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Belden in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Belden from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Belden in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Fox Advisors raised shares of Belden from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.00.

Belden Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Belden stock opened at $107.31 on Friday. Belden has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $159.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.13.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Belden had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 25.00%. The firm had revenue of $965.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. Belden’s revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Belden will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BDC. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Belden by 10.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Belden by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Belden by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Belden by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,091,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Belden by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Belden

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.