Brady (NYSE:BRC) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

Brady Price Performance

BRC opened at $75.23 on Wednesday. Brady has a 1 year low of $51.35 and a 1 year high of $76.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $343.40 million for 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 revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Brady will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total transaction 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $737,014.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares in the company, valued at $751,374. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,134 shares of company stock valued at $1,780,293 in the last ninety days. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brady

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aristides Capital LLC grew its holdings in Brady by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in shares of Brady during the second quarter worth $2,104,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Brady by 36.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Brady by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Brady by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 98,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.