Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys 122,975 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 284,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 122,975 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned approximately 0.17% of Graco worth $22,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $152,941,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $111,428,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,257,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,136,000 after purchasing an additional 856,460 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $70,891,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $84.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $82.03 and its 200 day moving average is $83.99. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.78 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. Graco’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

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.