New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,085 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Brady were worth $4,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRC. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brady during the first quarter worth about $28,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Brady by 34.5% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brady by 27.1% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Brady during the second quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brady by 14.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. 76.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BRC opened at $58.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.53. Brady Co. has a twelve month low of $46.77 and a twelve month high of $63.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Brady had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The company had revenue of $322.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Brady Co. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 24.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Brady from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $477,100.26. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at $19,124,886.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.70, for a total value of $298,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 328,593 shares in the company, valued at $19,617,002.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total transaction of $477,100.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 333,593 shares in the company, valued at $19,124,886.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,767 shares of company stock worth $2,032,067. 15.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brady 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.