Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 2,512 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,512 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Brady worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRC. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Brady during the 3rd quarter valued at $164,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brady during the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Brady during the third quarter valued at $209,000. Ifrah Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Brady in the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Brady in the 3rd quarter worth about $255,000. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BRC shares. Bank of America raised shares of Brady from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $51.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nancy Lee Gioia sold 4,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total transaction of $251,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,819.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $477,100.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,124,886.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Nancy Lee Gioia sold 4,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total transaction of $251,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $683,819.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,017 shares of company stock worth $2,283,667. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Performance

BRC stock opened at $59.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Brady Co. has a 1 year low of $46.77 and a 1 year high of $63.02. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.76.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Brady had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 14.08%. The company had revenue of $322.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Brady’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.54%.

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.