Brady (NYSE:BRC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Brady (NYSE:BRC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Brady had a return on equity of 19.57% and a net margin of 13.35%.

Brady Price Performance

BRC opened at $77.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.83. Brady has a 1 year low of $62.70 and a 1 year high of $78.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.61.

Brady Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.245 per share. This is a boost from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BRC. Sidoti upgraded Brady to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Brady from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brady currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Institutional Trading of Brady

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Brady by 37.2% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 322,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,946,000 after purchasing an additional 87,606 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Brady by 1,256.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 185,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,081,000 after buying an additional 171,535 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Brady by 6.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 149,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,145,000 after buying an additional 9,052 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Brady by 7.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 126,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,968,000 after buying an additional 8,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Brady by 3.4% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 117,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,967,000 after buying an additional 3,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

About Brady

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.