Renaissance Technologies LLC Takes Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 346,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,502,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Graco as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 90.2% during the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $85.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.85 and a 200-day moving average of $84.02. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five 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, the stock 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.