South Dakota Investment Council Takes $540,000 Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new stake in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Brady by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Brady in the 3rd quarter worth $164,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Brady in the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Brady in the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Ifrah Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Brady in the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. 76.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Price Performance

Brady stock opened at $60.01 on Friday. Brady Co. has a 52-week low of $46.77 and a 52-week high of $63.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Brady had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The business had revenue of $322.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brady Co. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Brady’s payout ratio is 24.54%.

Insider Transactions at Brady

In other news, Director Nancy Lee Gioia sold 4,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total transaction of $251,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,819.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 8,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.33, for a total value of $477,100.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 333,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,124,886.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy Lee Gioia sold 4,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total transaction of $251,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,819.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,017 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,667 over the last 90 days. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BRC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Brady from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Brady 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.