Brady (NYSE:BRC) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Brady (NYSE:BRC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on BRC. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Brady from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Sidoti raised shares of Brady from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Brady has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Brady Stock Performance

NYSE BRC opened at $84.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Brady has a twelve month low of $70.57 and a twelve month high of $99.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.91.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The industrial products company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.01. Brady had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm had revenue of $436.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $427.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Brady has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.250-6.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Brady will post 6.5 EPS for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2450. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.74%.

Insider Transactions at Brady

In related news, COO Thomas DeBruine sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total transaction of $482,076.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $631,932. This represents a 43.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brady

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brady by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Brady by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Brady during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $641,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Brady during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in Brady in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Company Profile

Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) develops and manufactures identification, workplace safety and facility-marking products for industrial, commercial, healthcare and government customers. Its offerings include safety signs and labels, pipe and valve markers, asset and equipment identification, wire and cable markers, barcode and RFID products, and specialized identification materials designed for demanding environments.

The company also provides printers, software and related systems used to create and manage labels, signs and other identification products.