Guggenheim Capital LLC Makes New $429,000 Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Graco by 76.8% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 1,481.4% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. 85.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, Director Sant R. William Van sold 20,820 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.14, for a total value of $1,481,134.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Graco news, Director Eric Etchart sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $431,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,824.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sant R. William Van sold 20,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.14, for a total value of $1,481,134.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,948 shares of company stock worth $4,096,787 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $67.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.11. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.48 and a 12-month high of $72.87.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. Graco had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The business had revenue of $555.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Graco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Graco Profile

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Graco, Inc is a manufacturing company, which designs, manufactures and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense and spray fluid and powder materials. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Contractor and Process. The Industrial segment includes the Applied Fluid Technologies and Industrial Products divisions.