Analysts Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Target Price at $92.40

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.20.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $362,808,000 after purchasing an additional 188,579 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,237,000 after purchasing an additional 43,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Graco by 32.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.7 %

GGG stock opened at $84.08 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.04. The company has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

About Graco

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.