Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 259,819 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 32.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.63% of Graco worth $84,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Graco by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 16,766 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Graco by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 72,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,333,000 after acquiring an additional 9,202 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in shares of Graco by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $84.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.79.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.80.

Graco Profile

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.