AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 29,926 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 29,926 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.13% of Graco worth $17,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Graco by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 21,971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 15.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 339,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,910,000 after purchasing an additional 46,635 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 60.1% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 32,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,120 shares during the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth about $13,552,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Graco by 182.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 23,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,879,000 after buying an additional 15,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.2 %

GGG stock opened at $86.42 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.55.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $553.20 million for 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.