Belden Inc. (BDC) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Belden's P/E of 23.4 is above its own 5-year median of 21.1.

P/E above the industry

Belden's P/E of 23.4 is above the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 22.3.

EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median

Belden's EV/EBITDA of 14.6 is above its 5-year median of 11.0.

P/B below the industry

Belden's price-to-book of 2.93 is below the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 3.17.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $104.17 is above our fair value estimate of $77.58.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 34.3% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 1.4% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew 1.1% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew 17.7% over the last twelve months; the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median is 18.3%.

Guidance issued

The latest outlook (Fourth Quarter 2026 Revenues (million), Oct 29, 2026) was issued for the first time, so it neither adds nor takes away points.

Gross margin slipping

Gross margin was 36.8% over the last twelve months, against 38.2% a year earlier.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 13.4% over the last twelve months and averaged 17.5% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on capital under 10%

Return on invested capital was 8.1%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity below the industry

Belden's return on equity of 13.4% is below the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 15.6%.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin below its 5-year average

Net margin was 5.6% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 7.8%.

Net margin above the industry

Belden's net margin of 5.6% is above the Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous median of 5.2%.

High debt

Debt is 219% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.

Debt rising against equity

Debt to equity rose from 210% five years ago to 219%.

Debt not well covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 13.1% of total debt; we look for at least 20%.

Interest coverage

Interest expense is not reported separately.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 1.82 times current liabilities.

Elevated bankruptcy risk

The Altman Z-score is 1.73; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Belden paid dividends worth 0.2% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 0.2% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Belden yields 0.2%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 4.4% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 3.4% of free cash flow.