XTX Topco Ltd Grows Stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 53.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Brady were worth $615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRC. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Brady in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Brady by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Brady by 337.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Brady during the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brady in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $119,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Price Performance

Shares of BRC opened at $75.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.67. Brady Co. has a twelve month low of $51.35 and a twelve month high of $76.82. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Brady’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 24.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Brady from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total transaction of $916,934.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly 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 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.