Everence Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Brady were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Brady during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Brady by 34.5% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Brady in the second quarter worth about $71,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brady by 27.1% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brady by 14.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Stock Performance

Shares of BRC stock opened at $58.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. Brady Co. has a 12-month low of $46.77 and a 12-month high of $63.02.

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

Brady Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 24.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised Brady from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brady

In other news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 19,030 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.41, for a total transaction of $1,111,542.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 342,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,982,937.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 19,030 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.41, for a total transaction of $1,111,542.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 342,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,982,937.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nancy Lee Gioia sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total value of $251,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,819.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,017 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,667. 15.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.