Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.40.

GGG has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco during the third quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $84.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. Graco has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.00 and its 200 day moving average is $84.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Graco will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

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.