SkyView Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 8.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 7.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 8.8% during the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $87.64 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.35 and a 200 day moving average of $83.71.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on GGG. StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco 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.