Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC) Stake Raised by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 623,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,018 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.31% of Brady worth $44,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,733,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $275,742,000 after buying an additional 1,074,885 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Brady by 6,379.9% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 544,375 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,202,000 after acquiring an additional 535,974 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,314,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Brady by 7,044.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 138,454 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,780,000 after purchasing an additional 136,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Brady by 29.7% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 516,499 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,485,000 after purchasing an additional 118,133 shares in the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brady from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Sidoti upgraded Brady to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

Brady Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE BRC traded down $0.33 on Friday, reaching $69.98. The company had a trading volume of 94,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 161,719. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.79. Brady Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.70 and a 1 year high of $77.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.17 and a 200-day moving average of $70.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.22. Brady had a return on equity of 19.57% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $382.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brady Corporation will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Brady's payout ratio is 23.76%.

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.