Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,782 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 735 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Benchmark Electronics worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BHE. Boston Partners raised its position in Benchmark Electronics by 42.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 149,208 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,620,000 after acquiring an additional 44,579 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Benchmark Electronics by 119.4% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 249,809 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,060,000 after acquiring an additional 135,932 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Benchmark Electronics by 4.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,810 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Benchmark Electronics by 1.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 142,132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in Benchmark Electronics in the fourth quarter worth $445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.29% of the company’s stock.

Benchmark Electronics Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of BHE stock opened at $30.21 on Wednesday. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.58 and a fifty-two week high of $31.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $691.35 million for the quarter. Benchmark Electronics had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 2.27%.

Benchmark Electronics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Benchmark Electronics’s payout ratio is currently 36.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sidoti cut Benchmark Electronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Benchmark Electronics from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Benchmark Electronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

Benchmark Electronics Profile

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.