Grimes & Company Inc. Lowers Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Grimes & Company Inc. cut its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,468 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Graco in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Graco by 128.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $84.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average is $84.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.11. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The firm had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GGG. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

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.