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

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 300,700 shares, an increase of 16.6% from the September 30th total of 257,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 224,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brady

In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at $7,520,297.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $751,374. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,262 shares of company stock valued at $3,371,231 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brady

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 46,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 5,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Up 1.1 %

Brady stock opened at $72.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.48. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.76. Brady has a fifty-two week low of $51.35 and a fifty-two week high of $76.97.

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

Brady Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s payout ratio is presently 24.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

About Brady

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.