Blue Trust Inc. Buys 2,729 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 64.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,729 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Brady were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,658,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $203,753,000 after acquiring an additional 753,092 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brady by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 658,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,445,000 after buying an additional 45,206 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Brady by 2.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 618,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,422,000 after buying an additional 17,682 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Brady by 27.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,590,000 after buying an additional 118,557 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,710,000 after acquiring an additional 82,438 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Trading Down 0.5 %

BRC stock opened at $74.98 on Friday. Brady Co. has a 12 month low of $56.09 and a 12 month high of $77.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.50 and its 200 day moving average is $73.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

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

Brady Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Brady’s payout ratio is 23.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.