Short Interest in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) Expands By 9.0%

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 670,900 shares, an increase of 9.0% from the December 15th total of 615,600 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 195,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Brady by 10,519.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 144,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,788,000 after buying an additional 142,755 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Brady by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 2,679 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter valued at about $338,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Brady in the fourth quarter valued at about $304,000. 77.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Brady in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Brady from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, October 13th.

Brady Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BRC traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.04. The stock had a trading volume of 46,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,217. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.36. Brady has a 52 week low of $40.52 and a 52 week high of $53.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Brady (NYSE:BRC – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Brady had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 11.85%. The firm had revenue of $322.57 million during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Brady will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 9th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

About Brady

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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. It operates through two segments, IDS and WPS. The IDS segment 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.