Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Invests $778,000 in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Brady by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,215,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,144,000 after acquiring an additional 31,096 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brady by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,733,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $275,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,885 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Brady by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,443,594 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,258 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Brady by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,152,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,100,000 after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Brady by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 686,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,729,000 after purchasing an additional 60,737 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Brady stock traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $68.34. The company had a trading volume of 361,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,466. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $70.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.87. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22. Brady had a return on equity of 19.57% and a net margin of 13.35%. The company had revenue of $382.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.61 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. Brady's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Brady Corporation will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.