Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock Position Lifted by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 266.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,378 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 12.5% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 27,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,070 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 962,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,280,000 after purchasing an additional 33,563 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 284,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,543,000 after buying an additional 122,975 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 118,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,382,000 after buying an additional 26,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 428.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after buying an additional 95,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $85.64 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.78. The firm has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

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.