Aurora Investment Counsel Buys Shares of 31,863 Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 31,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,104,000. Brady comprises about 1.2% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Aurora Investment Counsel owned approximately 0.07% of Brady at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brady in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Brady by 337.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Brady by 36.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brady during the first quarter worth $66,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of Brady stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,374. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,520,297.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew Gorman sold 8,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total value of $647,337.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 10,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $751,374. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231 over the last three months. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Brady Price Performance

BRC opened at $76.60 on Tuesday. Brady Co. has a 1 year low of $51.35 and a 1 year high of $76.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Brady’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Brady’s payout ratio is 24.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Brady from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

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.