CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Graco were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Graco by 3.7% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 10.7% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Graco by 25.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $89.60 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $85.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.