Boston Partners Acquires 447,703 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 2,520.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 465,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 447,703 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 0.96% of Brady worth $27,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brady by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 320,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,621,000 after purchasing an additional 142,350 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Brady by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,174 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Brady during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Brady in the third quarter valued at approximately $164,000. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brady

In other Brady news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of Brady 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 sale, the director now directly owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,124,886.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 328,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,617,002.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,124,886.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,017 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,667 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 15.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brady from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Brady Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BRC traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, hitting $61.09. The company had a trading volume of 130,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,004. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Brady Co. has a 12-month low of $46.77 and a 12-month high of $63.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.39.

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

Brady Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.54%.

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.