Neuberger Berman Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Brady Corporation $BRC

Key Points

• Neuberger Berman Group LLC significantly increased its stake in Brady Corporation by 196.6%, acquiring an additional 1,070,000 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1.6 million shares valued at $114 million.
• Other institutional investors, including KBC Group NV and Bessemer Group Inc., also increased their stakes in Brady, reflecting a growing institutional interest as 76.28% of the company's stock is held by institutional investors.
• Brady Corporation reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22, matching analyst estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.4% despite falling short of expectations.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 196.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,614,375 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,070,000 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned about 3.38% of Brady worth $114,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Brady by 33.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Brady by 68.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 11,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 4,490 shares during the period. Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in Brady during the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Brady by 192.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 3,831 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Brady during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,865,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BRC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Brady from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Brady to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th.

Brady Trading Up 0.5%

BRC traded up $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $72.65. 114,580 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 224,842. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Brady Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.70 and a 1 year high of $77.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 0.81.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.22. The company had revenue of $382.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.61 million. Brady had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 19.57%. Brady's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Brady Corporation will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.