2,940 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Bought by Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s.

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $30,000. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $87.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.42. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

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.