Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Graco worth $6,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,941,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Graco by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 7,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 16,766 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $84.52 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.99.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.