Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the target 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 short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brady news, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $647,337.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $751,374. The trade was a 46.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total value of $1,590,938.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,691,895. The trade was a 17.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Brady by 39.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,658,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $203,753,000 after buying an additional 753,092 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Brady during the 1st quarter worth about $13,439,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Brady by 143.1% in 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 1,121.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,235,000 after purchasing an additional 146,601 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Brady by 27.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Performance

BRC traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, hitting $75.30. The stock had a trading volume of 75,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,091. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.76. Brady has a one year low of $55.97 and a one year high of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $377.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. 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.