Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,301,138 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 195,475 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.97% of Brady worth $291,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Brady by 34.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,963,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $234,492,000 after buying an additional 1,259,342 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Brady in the second quarter worth approximately $11,731,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brady in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,330,000. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Brady in the second quarter worth approximately $10,804,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brady by 65.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 510,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,044,000 after purchasing an additional 202,099 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brady Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BRC traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.28. 252,376 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,400. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.77. Brady Co. has a 52-week low of $46.77 and a 52-week high of $63.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business's fifty day moving average is $59.59 and its 200-day moving average is $57.26.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $322.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.61 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 14.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Brady from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised Brady from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity at Brady

In related news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $477,100.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at $19,124,886.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Brady news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $477,100.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at $19,124,886.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.70, for a total value of $298,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 328,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,617,002.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,352 shares of company stock worth $1,887,143 over the last quarter. 15.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.