Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Up 29.2% in November

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 446,300 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the October 31st total of 345,500 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 262,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other Brady news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRC. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Brady by 65.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Brady by 161.4% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Brady by 337.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Brady by 36.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Brady during the second quarter worth $119,000. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Price Performance

Brady stock opened at $74.89 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.76. Brady 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.78.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Brady had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The company had revenue of $377.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Brady’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brady will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.59%.

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.