Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Sold by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,619 shares during the quarter. Graco comprises about 1.0% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 36,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock opened at $81.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.01. The company has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. Graco’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.