Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $152,941,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG acquired a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $111,428,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Graco by 213.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,257,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,136,000 after purchasing an additional 856,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $70,891,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $80.04 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.46. The firm has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

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.