Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Update

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

Brady Stock Performance

NYSE:BRC opened at $70.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.72. Brady has a twelve month low of $57.89 and a twelve month high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.03). Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $356.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 is Wednesday, April 9th. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is 24.00%.

Institutional Trading of Brady

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