Brady (NYSE:BRC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Brady Co. (NYSE:BRC) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $74.21, but opened at $70.65. Brady shares last traded at $69.85, with a volume of 71,289 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Brady from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th.

Brady Trading Down 5.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.36 and its 200-day moving average is $69.97.

Brady (NYSE:BRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, September 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Brady had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $343.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Brady Co. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brady Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Brady’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Brady’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas F. Debruine sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.77, for a total transaction of $216,020.27. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $737,014.79. This trade represents a 22.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Shaller sold 12,547 shares of Brady stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.08, for a total value of $916,934.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 102,905 shares in the company, valued at $7,520,297.40. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,262 shares of company stock worth $3,371,231. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brady

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Brady in the 1st quarter worth about $313,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Brady by 225.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 20,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 13,869 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brady by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,307,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $314,610,000 after acquiring an additional 32,437 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Brady by 31.7% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Brady during the 1st quarter worth approximately $438,000. 76.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Brady

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.