Everence Capital Management Inc. Takes $303,000 Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 142.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Graco by 54.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,502,000 after purchasing an additional 286,212 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $81.89 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.13 and its 200 day moving average is $84.13. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.20.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, 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 have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.