Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Target Price at $89.25

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Graco in the third quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

Graco stock opened at $90.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.41. Graco has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. 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. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

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.