Graco (NYSE:GGG) Price Target Raised to $100.00

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $97.00 to $100.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

GGG has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $96.00 price objective on Graco in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.33.

Graco Trading Down 0.4%

GGG opened at $87.25 on Wednesday. Graco has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $89.67. The firm has a market cap of $14.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.97.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. The company had revenue of $593.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.99 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 23.33%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase 15,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Monday, January 19th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Graco by 432.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 85,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,263,000 after purchasing an additional 69,573 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 154.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 64,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,466,000 after acquiring an additional 39,031 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. bought a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth $4,837,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 81,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,899,000 after acquiring an additional 12,575 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth about $2,477,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.