Brady (NYSE:BRC) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brady (NYSE:BRC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Brady Price Performance

Shares of BRC opened at $72.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.27. Brady has a twelve month low of $51.35 and a twelve month high of $76.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.76.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.74 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is 23.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brady

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brady by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 261,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,346,000 after buying an additional 2,095 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the 4th quarter valued at $376,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Brady by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,579 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brady in the 4th quarter worth about $1,418,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Brady by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.