Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC) Shares Bought by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,881 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Brady were worth $9,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Brady by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in Brady by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. NDVR Inc. raised its position in Brady by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Brady by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Brady by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 12,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brady Price Performance

NYSE:BRC opened at $69.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.71. Brady Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.70 and a 1-year high of $77.68.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.22. The company had revenue of $382.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.61 million. Brady had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 19.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Brady Corporation will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sidoti raised shares of Brady to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brady from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th.

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.