Creative Planning Boosts Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 134.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $111,428,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $44,069,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 54.2% in 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $82.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.79.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.25.

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.