Short Interest in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Drops By 20.7%

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 418,400 shares, a decline of 20.7% from the April 30th total of 527,600 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 254,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Sidoti upgraded Brady to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th.

Brady Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of BRC stock traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $69.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 139,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,003. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.80. Brady has a one year low of $62.70 and a one year high of $77.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.22. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $382.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $386.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Brady's payout ratio is 23.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brady

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Brady by 535.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,733 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 19,998 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Brady during the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Brady in the 4th quarter worth about $465,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Brady by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.