Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Sold by Narwhal Capital Management

Narwhal Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 8.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 82,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,630 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 23,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GGG stock opened at $83.59 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.12. The stock has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.50.

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.