Brady (NYSE:BRC) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $74.58, but opened at $70.34. Brady shares last traded at $69.42, with a volume of 47,687 shares traded.

The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $356.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share.

Brady Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Brady's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.59%.

Institutional Trading of Brady

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRC. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Brady by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 5,316 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brady by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 118,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,732,000 after buying an additional 15,795 shares during the last quarter. Sapience Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Brady during the fourth quarter worth about $2,519,000. NDVR Inc. lifted its holdings in Brady by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company's stock.

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Brady Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.90.

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.