Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) Downgraded to “Market Perform” at Northland Securities

Northland Securities cut shares of Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Northland Securities currently has $63.00 target price on the electronics maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BELFB. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price 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 Bel Fuse from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Bel Fuse Stock Performance

Bel Fuse stock opened at $58.04 on Thursday. Bel Fuse has a fifty-two week low of $39.13 and a fifty-two week high of $74.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 4.21. The stock has a market cap of $740.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.46.

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFB) last released 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 firm had revenue of $140.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.86 million. Bel Fuse had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 23.58%. As a group, analysts expect that Bel Fuse will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bel Fuse Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 12th. 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. Insiders own 5.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bel Fuse

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BELFB. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bel Fuse during the first quarter valued at about $760,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 41,958 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Bel Fuse by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,862 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bel Fuse in the 1st quarter worth approximately $173,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Bel Fuse during the 1st quarter worth approximately $471,000. 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.