Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 59.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 158,695 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.23% of Brady worth $7,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Brady by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,658,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $203,753,000 after acquiring an additional 753,092 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Brady by 1,121.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,668 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,235,000 after purchasing an additional 146,601 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 27.1% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,590,000 after purchasing an additional 118,557 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Brady by 231.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 132,019 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,716,000 after buying an additional 92,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Brady by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,057 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,710,000 after buying an additional 82,438 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Brady Stock Performance

BRC traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $73.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 436,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,799. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $74.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.94. Brady Co. has a 52-week low of $56.09 and a 52-week high of $77.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Brady's payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

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.