Graco (NYSE:GGG) Given New $97.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on GGG. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.20.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $84.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.04. Graco has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in Graco by 2.3% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.8% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Graco by 3.7% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

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.