Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 446,300 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the October 31st total of 345,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 262,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brady news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,520,297.40. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,374. This represents a 46.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231 over the last three months. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brady

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Brady by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,658,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $203,753,000 after purchasing an additional 753,092 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Brady in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $13,439,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Brady by 143.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,459,000 after acquiring an additional 157,149 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Brady by 1,121.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,235,000 after acquiring an additional 146,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Brady by 27.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,590,000 after purchasing an additional 118,557 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Brady Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BRC traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.30. The company had a trading volume of 75,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,091. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Brady has a 12 month low of $55.97 and a 12 month high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $377.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.88 million. Brady had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. Brady’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

Brady Company Profile

Brady Corporation manufactures and supplies identification solutions (IDS) and workplace safety (WPS) products to identify and protect premises, products, and people in the United States and internationally. The company offers materials, printing systems, RFID, and bar code scanners for product identification, brand protection labeling, work in process labeling, finished product identification, and industrial track and trace applications; safety signs, floor-marking tapes, pipe markers, labeling systems, spill control products, lockout/tagout device, and software and services for safety compliance auditing, procedure writing, and training; and hand-held printers, wire markers, sleeves, and tags for wire identification.