Short Interest in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Decreases By 17.9%

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 895,300 shares, a drop of 17.9% from the February 13th total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 273,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BDC traded down $2.66 during trading on Thursday, reaching $103.87. 24,205 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,465. Belden has a 12 month low of $80.90 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. Research analysts expect that Belden will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Belden has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.25.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other Belden news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,776.79. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belden

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Belden in the third quarter valued at approximately $687,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 157.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,801,000 after buying an additional 19,849 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 32.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Belden by 189.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,439 shares during the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.