Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Shares Purchased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 173.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Brady were worth $179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BRC. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Brady in the first quarter valued at approximately $13,439,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $20,459,000 after buying an additional 157,149 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Brady by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,590,000 after acquiring an additional 118,557 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Brady by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 560,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,631,000 after acquiring an additional 106,652 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Brady by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 132,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,716,000 after acquiring an additional 92,228 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Trading Down 0.2 %

BRC opened at $74.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.76. Brady Co. has a one year low of $54.97 and a one year high of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.61.

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

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total transaction of $216,020.27. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,014.79. This represents a 22.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock valued at $3,371,231. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Brady 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.