Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases New Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 142.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Graco by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after acquiring an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of GGG opened at $83.96 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.44. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

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.