Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Raises Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam raised its position in Graco by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $84.59 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.88.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

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.