Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $91.50.

Several research firms have issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Graco Trading Up 0.0 %

GGG stock opened at $87.18 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.88. The firm has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.84. Graco has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. 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 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,749,000 after buying an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Graco by 254.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Graco by 25.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,800,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

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.