GSA Capital Partners LLP Invests $645,000 in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Brady in the 3rd quarter worth about $342,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Brady by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brady by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 7,949 shares during the period. Fort L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Brady by 10,983.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,977 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brady

In other news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total value of $216,020.27. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,727 shares in the company, valued at $737,014.79. The trade was a 22.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total value of $1,590,938.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,150 shares in the company, valued at $7,691,895. The trade was a 17.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. Insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Brady Stock Performance

Shares of BRC opened at $70.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.31 and a 200-day moving average of $70.05. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.76. Brady Co. has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $343.40 million during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s payout ratio is 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.