Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.50.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Graco Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $87.18 on Thursday. Graco has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.68 and a 200-day moving average of $84.88.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Equities research analysts expect that Graco will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.