Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives $89.25 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.25.

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Graco during the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 220.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $90.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.31.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.