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

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 345,500 shares, an increase of 14.9% from the October 15th total of 300,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 236,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brady

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,590,938.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 102,150 shares in the company, valued at $7,691,895. This trade represents a 17.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,374. This trade represents a 46.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. Insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brady

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 54.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 350,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,107,000 after buying an additional 123,296 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Brady in the first quarter worth approximately $438,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 36.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,493,000 after buying an additional 11,309 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 1,135.8% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 65,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,305,000 after buying an additional 59,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 15.5% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 287,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,048,000 after buying an additional 38,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Brady Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRC opened at $74.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.36 and its 200 day moving average is $69.97. Brady has a 52 week low of $52.68 and a 52 week high of $77.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s payout ratio is presently 23.59%.

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.