UMB Bank n.a. Increases Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 187.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Graco were worth $43,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,229,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,846,000 after buying an additional 144,146 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Graco by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,361,000 after acquiring an additional 91,794 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Graco by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,440,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,618,000 after acquiring an additional 182,470 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $111,428,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Up 0.8 %

GGG opened at $86.97 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.07. The firm has a market cap of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.25.

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.