Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 12,404 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Bridgewater Associates LP decreased its holdings in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 49,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,404 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Brady were worth $3,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Brady by 337.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Brady by 36.1% during 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. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Brady in the second quarter worth $119,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Brady by 10,983.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Price Performance

Shares of BRC opened at $74.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.23 and its 200 day moving average is $70.71. Brady Co. has a 12-month low of $54.97 and a 12-month high of $77.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.88 million. Brady had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,014.79. This represents a 22.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of Brady stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total transaction of $1,590,938.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,150 shares in the company, valued at $7,691,895. This represents a 17.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231 over the last 90 days. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.