Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,512 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Brady were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRC. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Brady in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $164,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Brady during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Brady in the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Ifrah Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brady in the third quarter worth $213,000. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Brady during the third quarter worth $255,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brady Trading Down 0.8 %

Brady stock opened at $59.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.76. Brady Co. has a 12 month low of $46.77 and a 12 month high of $63.02.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $322.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Brady Co. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Brady’s payout ratio is 24.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 19,030 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 342,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,982,937.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Nancy Lee Gioia sold 4,250 shares of Brady stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $683,819.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth P. Bruno sold 19,030 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 342,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,982,937.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,017 shares of company stock worth $2,283,667. 15.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 upgraded Brady from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $65.00 in a research note 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.