Edgestream Partners L.P. Purchases New Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,502,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Graco by 410.7% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 42,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,356,000 after purchasing an additional 34,041 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Graco by 32.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 44,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,546,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,447,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.02. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

Graco Company 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.