Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Creative Planning lifted its position in Graco by 5.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,136,000 after acquiring an additional 4,514 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Graco by 165.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 48.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 29.0% during the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 92,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,078,000 after purchasing an additional 20,728 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 1.2 %

GGG stock opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.13. The stock has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

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.