Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the August 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 818,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Graco Stock Up 1.0 %

GGG opened at $87.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.64.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam grew its stake in shares of Graco by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

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.