Aurora Investment Counsel Boosts Stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Brady accounts for about 1.3% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Brady were worth $2,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brady by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,307,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $314,610,000 after acquiring an additional 32,437 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Brady by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,510,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,701,000 after purchasing an additional 24,786 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Brady by 23.5% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 560,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,631,000 after purchasing an additional 106,652 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Brady by 27.1% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,590,000 after buying an additional 118,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Brady by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,710,000 after buying an additional 82,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th.

Brady Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRC opened at $70.72 on Thursday. Brady Co. has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $77.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.12. 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 (NYSE:BRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Brady had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.59%.

Insider Activity at Brady

In related news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total transaction of $216,020.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,014.79. This represents a 22.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Brady 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.