Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,215,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,096 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.92% of Brady worth $385,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brady in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Brady by 134.6% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 7,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Brady during the 4th quarter valued at $1,669,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Brady by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 148,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,999,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Brady by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 386,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,564,000 after purchasing an additional 18,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:BRC opened at $72.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 0.72. Brady Co. has a one year low of $57.89 and a one year high of $77.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.66.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $356.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.21 million. Brady had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 19.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Brady Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.00%.

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.