Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 143.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 266,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 157,149 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Brady were worth $20,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Brady in the first quarter valued at about $13,439,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Brady by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 560,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,631,000 after purchasing an additional 106,652 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Brady by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 610,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,190,000 after purchasing an additional 106,219 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Brady by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 132,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,716,000 after buying an additional 92,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,710,000 after buying an additional 82,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at $7,520,297.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Brady news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Brady Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BRC opened at $72.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.76. Brady Co. has a 52 week low of $51.35 and a 52 week high of $76.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Brady Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is 24.49%.

Brady 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.