National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Tobam lifted its stake in Graco by 90.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GGG. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE GGG opened at $81.35 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.17%.

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.