Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Graco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Graco by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 101,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,522,000 after purchasing an additional 15,806 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Graco by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 85,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,166,000 after buying an additional 11,332 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,138,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $177,434,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $84.66 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $93.01. The company has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.66.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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.