Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Up 11.5% in July

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 473,800 shares, an increase of 11.5% from the July 15th total of 424,900 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 223,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brady

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Brady by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Brady by 1,107.4% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Brady by 65.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Stock Performance

Brady stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $72.94. 33,472 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 283,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.77. Brady has a 12-month low of $48.60 and a 12-month high of $73.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.25.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.80 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 14.22%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Brady will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

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.