StockNews.com Lowers Brady (NYSE:BRC) to Buy

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

Brady Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRC opened at $72.64 on Friday. Brady has a twelve month low of $51.35 and a twelve month high of $76.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.53. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brady

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Brady by 21.1% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 610,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,190,000 after purchasing an additional 106,219 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Brady by 101.9% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,942 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Brady by 54.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 350,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,107,000 after purchasing an additional 123,296 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Brady in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,051,000. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,418,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

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.