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

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $94.25.

GGG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 24th.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, Director Andrea Helen Simon bought 1,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.53 per share, with a total value of $99,857.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,857.20. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graco

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Graco by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,813,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,503,000 after purchasing an additional 242,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,652,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,642,000 after purchasing an additional 261,126 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Graco by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,057,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,556,000 after purchasing an additional 206,949 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Graco by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,076,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $176,016,000 after purchasing an additional 53,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $161,949,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $76.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.79. The company has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.93. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $73.15 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $540.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.35 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.66% and a net margin of 22.96%.The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

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.