Graco (NYSE:GGG) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $85.95, but opened at $81.77. Graco shares last traded at $82.81, with a volume of 104,512 shares trading hands.

The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Graco

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 339,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,618,000 after purchasing an additional 11,218 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its position in Graco by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 21,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Graco by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in Graco by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 4,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.47 and a 200-day moving average of $84.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84.

About Graco

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.