Brady (NYSE:BRC) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing 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 trading hands.

The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.03). Brady had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share.

Brady Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Brady’s payout ratio is currently 23.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brady by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,215,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $385,144,000 after acquiring an additional 31,096 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brady by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,733,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $275,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,885 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Brady by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,443,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,608,000 after buying an additional 7,258 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Brady by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,152,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,100,000 after buying an additional 22,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Brady by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 686,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,729,000 after buying an additional 60,737 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.28% of the company’s stock.

Brady Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.81.

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.