Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives $92.40 Consensus PT from Analysts

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.20.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GGG. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GGG. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its holdings in Graco by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,749,000 after buying an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 254.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after acquiring an additional 140,417 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after acquiring an additional 8,485 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Graco by 25.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $876,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $84.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.04. Graco has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

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.