Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.25.

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 18,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 66,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,260,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE GGG opened at $80.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

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.