Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Price Target at $86.80

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.80.

A number of research firms have issued reports on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the second quarter valued at about $985,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 152.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 20,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 12,289 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Graco by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 139,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,028,000 after buying an additional 21,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 1.0 %

GGG opened at $87.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.77. Graco has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Graco will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.