Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $15.35 Million Stock Holdings in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,290 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,116 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Brady worth $15,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BRC. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Brady during the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Brady by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Brady by 99,900.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC bought a new position in Brady during the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new position in Brady during the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BRC. Sidoti upgraded shares of Brady to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brady from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th.

Brady Price Performance

Brady stock traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $67.86. 90,933 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 244,517. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $70.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.98. Brady Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.70 and a 1-year high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $386.61 million. Brady had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 19.57%. The business's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Brady Corporation will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.76%.

About Brady

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.