Graco (NYSE:GGG) Given Neutral Rating at DA Davidson

Graco (NYSE:GGG)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by research analysts at DA Davidson in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $79.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential downside of 10.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

Graco Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Graco stock traded up $1.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.27. 157,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 742,782. Graco has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.24 and its 200 day moving average is $83.81.

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

Institutional Trading of Graco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth $985,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Graco by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Graco by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Graco by 152.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 20,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 12,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Graco by 17.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 139,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,028,000 after buying an additional 21,141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Company 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.