Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 345,500 shares, a growth of 14.9% from the October 15th total of 300,700 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 236,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total value of $216,020.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $737,014.79. This represents a 22.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,374. This trade represents a 46.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock valued at $3,371,231 over the last three months. Insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brady

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 46,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 5,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 54,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,168,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brady Price Performance

Brady stock opened at $74.21 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.76. Brady has a 12-month low of $52.68 and a 12-month high of $77.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $343.40 million for 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 firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.