Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 541 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Brady were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Brady by 34.5% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Brady during the second quarter worth about $71,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Brady

In other Brady news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 333,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,124,886.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 19,030 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.41, for a total transaction of $1,111,542.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 342,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,982,937.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $477,100.26. Following the sale, the director now owns 333,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,124,886.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,017 shares of company stock worth $2,283,667. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of BRC opened at $58.85 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.60. Brady Co. has a 12-month low of $46.77 and a 12-month high of $63.02. 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 has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Brady had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 14.08%. The firm had revenue of $322.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Brady’s payout ratio is 24.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded Brady from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd.

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.