Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Short Interest Down 7.3% in December

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 522,000 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 562,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 259,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Brady Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $73.53. 436,111 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 255,799. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Brady has a 12 month low of $56.09 and a 12 month high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $377.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Brady will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brady

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in Brady in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Brady by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,510,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,701,000 after buying an additional 24,786 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 9,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Brady during the second quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 151.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 13,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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.