Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $80.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.17 and a 200 day moving average of $84.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.