Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Update

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 437,500 shares, a decline of 25.6% from the February 28th total of 587,900 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 291,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Brady

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brady by 213.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of Brady by 161.4% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brady by 378.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. 76.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BRC traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.67. 205,437 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 254,432. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.62 and its 200-day moving average is $73.69. Brady has a 12-month low of $57.89 and a 12-month high of $77.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.03). Brady had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The firm had revenue of $356.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.00%.

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.