Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 7,252 Shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,227 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,252 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.25% of Brady worth $8,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 94,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,945,000 after purchasing an additional 14,702 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Brady by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 177,324 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,095,000 after buying an additional 27,293 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Brady by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Brady by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 450,148 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,243,000 after acquiring an additional 59,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brady by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. now owns 54,509 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 18,228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company's stock.

Brady Stock Up 0.7 %

BRC traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.16. 33,980 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,420. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.72. Brady Co. has a one year low of $57.89 and a one year high of $77.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $72.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.69. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $356.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.21 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Brady's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.00%.

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.