Royce & Associates LP Acquires 17,018 Shares of Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRC. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,074,885 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in Brady by 6,379.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 544,375 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,202,000 after purchasing an additional 535,974 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Brady during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,314,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company's stock.

Brady Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:BRC traded up $0.71 on Monday, hitting $70.78. The stock had a trading volume of 204,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,479. The business's fifty day moving average is $69.17 and its 200 day moving average is $70.67. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52 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. Brady Corporation has a 52 week low of $62.70 and a 52 week high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brady Corporation will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. 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 1.36%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BRC shares. Wall Street Zen raised 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 report on Monday, May 19th.

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.