Fmr LLC Acquires 753,092 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

FMR LLC lifted its stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 39.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,658,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 753,092 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned 5.59% of Brady worth $203,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,396 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,916,000 after acquiring an additional 54,264 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Brady by 0.9% during the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 32,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Brady by 0.7% during the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 83,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,387,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Brady by 173.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Brady by 1,932.7% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 36,691 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 34,886 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brady Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BRC traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.34. The stock had a trading volume of 40,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,810. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.77. 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 50 day moving average is $74.23 and its 200-day moving average is $70.96. Brady Co. has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.88 million. Brady had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Brady's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Brady's dividend payout ratio is 23.59%.

Insider Transactions at Brady

In other Brady news, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $751,374. This represents a 46.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231 in the last 90 days. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded 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.