StockNews.com Upgrades Brady (NYSE:BRC) to “Strong-Buy”

Brady (NYSE:BRC) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Brady Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BRC opened at $76.04 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $51.35 and a 12 month high of $76.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.80.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Brady’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Brady will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at $7,520,297.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of Brady stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares in the company, valued at $751,374. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at $7,520,297.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BRC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Brady by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,579 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Brady during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,819,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Brady by 73.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 140,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,273,000 after acquiring an additional 59,488 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management raised its stake in Brady by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 37,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter worth about $632,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

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.