Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Graco by 320.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth about $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 982.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GGG. Weiss Ratings downgraded Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price target on Graco in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $81.59 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.50.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is 37.54%.

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.