Graco (NYSE:GGG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.37% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.20.

Graco Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $84.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. Graco has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its 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 net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company 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 firm posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Graco will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Graco by 3.4% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Graco by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth $876,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.