Northland Securities Lowers Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) to Market Perform

Northland Securities cut shares of Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $63.00 price objective on the electronics maker’s stock.

BELFB has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Bel Fuse from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bel Fuse from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Bel Fuse Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BELFB traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $58.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 89,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,174. The firm has a market capitalization of $740.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.11. Bel Fuse has a one year low of $39.13 and a one year high of $74.75.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The electronics maker reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $140.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.86 million. Bel Fuse had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 23.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that Bel Fuse will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bel Fuse Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 12th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Bel Fuse’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vincent Vellucci sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.70, for a total transaction of $56,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,126.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bel Fuse by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 676,723 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $32,293,000 after purchasing an additional 30,752 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Bel Fuse by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 249,900 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $16,686,000 after buying an additional 34,100 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bel Fuse during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,537,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in shares of Bel Fuse in the third quarter worth $8,377,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bel Fuse by 29.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 169,920 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,109,000 after buying an additional 39,046 shares in the last quarter. 58.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bel Fuse Company Profile

Bel Fuse Inc designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Macao, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Germany, India, Switzerland, and internationally.