StockNews.com Lowers Brady (NYSE:BRC) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brady (NYSE:BRC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Brady Stock Performance

NYSE:BRC opened at $74.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.27. Brady has a fifty-two week low of $51.35 and a fifty-two week high of $76.97. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.33.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $343.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $351.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Brady’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brady news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,520,297.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other 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 value of $216,020.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,014.79. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brady

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BRC. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Brady by 65.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Brady by 337.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Brady by 36.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Brady in the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Brady in the second quarter worth approximately $119,000. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

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.