Brady (NYSE:BRC) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $74.58, but opened at $70.34. Brady shares last traded at $69.42, with a volume of 47,687 shares.

The industrial products company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $356.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.21 million. Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share.

Brady Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.59%.

Institutional Trading of Brady

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BRC. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Brady by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 94,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,945,000 after acquiring an additional 14,702 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Brady by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 177,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,095,000 after acquiring an additional 27,293 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Brady by 27.1% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,590,000 after acquiring an additional 118,557 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Brady by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Brady by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. now owns 54,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 18,228 shares during the last quarter. 76.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Stock Down 6.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.06 and a 200 day moving average of $73.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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.