Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Update

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 478,500 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the August 15th total of 560,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 220,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Brady from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday.

Brady Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BRC traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.65. 230,161 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 283,865. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.20. Brady has a 1-year low of $51.35 and a 1-year high of $76.82.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $343.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $351.74 million. Brady had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Brady will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.49%.

Insider Activity at Brady

In related news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brady

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aristides Capital LLC grew its holdings in Brady by 7.2% during the second quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in shares of Brady in the second quarter worth about $2,104,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Brady by 36.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Brady by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 98,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.