Legato Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Legato Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,434 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Brady were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Brady by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 94,174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,945,000 after acquiring an additional 14,702 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Brady by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 177,324 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,095,000 after purchasing an additional 27,293 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,590,000 after purchasing an additional 118,557 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Brady by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Brady by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. now owns 54,509 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,025,000 after buying an additional 18,228 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Stock Performance

BRC stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $73.42. The stock had a trading volume of 236,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 209,252. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.77. Brady Co. has a 52-week low of $56.09 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.76.

Brady (NYSE:BRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $377.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Announces Dividend

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

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.