Short Interest in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Declines By 25.6%

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brady by 378.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 655 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during 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 worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Brady by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 893 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Brady in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Brady Stock Performance

BRC stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.67. 205,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 254,432. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.69. Brady has a 52 week low of $57.89 and a 52 week high of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The company had revenue of $356.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brady will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Brady's payout ratio is 24.00%.

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.