Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Down 7.3% in December

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 522,000 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 562,900 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 259,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Brady Trading Down 0.1 %

BRC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $73.53. 436,111 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 255,799. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.77. Brady has a 52 week low of $56.09 and a 52 week high of $77.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

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

Brady Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRC. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in Brady by 161.4% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Brady by 36.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Brady by 91.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Brady by 10,983.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brady by 173.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.