Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE)

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $48.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Benchmark Electronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.33.

Benchmark Electronics Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE BHE traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $46.81. 79,705 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 166,599. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.56 and its 200-day moving average is $44.16. Benchmark Electronics has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $52.57.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $658.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.00 million. Benchmark Electronics had a net margin of 2.32% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at Benchmark Electronics

In other news, SVP Rhonda R. Turner sold 6,000 shares of Benchmark Electronics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.98, for a total transaction of $281,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,254,617.18. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeff Benck sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.90, for a total transaction of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,469,540.70. This trade represents a 5.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHE. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 55.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 14,020 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 27.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,126 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,324,000 after purchasing an additional 25,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Benchmark Electronics by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 841,602 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,307,000 after purchasing an additional 21,355 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 428.1% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 32,887 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 26,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 48,425 shares in the last quarter. 92.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Benchmark Electronics

Benchmark Electronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company provides engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services.