Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Up 29.2% in November

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 446,300 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the October 31st total of 345,500 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 262,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Brady Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of BRC stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $74.59. 1,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 274,824. Brady has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $77.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.76.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Brady news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of Brady stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,727 shares in the company, valued at $737,014.79. This trade represents a 22.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 21,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total transaction of $1,590,938.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,691,895. This represents a 17.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231 over the last three months. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brady by 13.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,910,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Brady by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 658,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,445,000 after acquiring an additional 45,206 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Brady by 535.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 19,998 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 21.5% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Brady in the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.