Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases Shares of 3,312 Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brady by 65.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Brady by 337.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Brady during the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Brady during the 2nd quarter worth $192,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Brady from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Transactions at Brady

In other Brady news, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $751,374. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,520,297.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $647,337.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares in the company, valued at $751,374. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Brady Stock Performance

Shares of BRC opened at $76.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.19 and a 200 day moving average of $65.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.76. Brady Co. has a 12 month low of $51.35 and a 12 month high of $76.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $343.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.74 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.49%.

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.