Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth $278,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $339,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust bought a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 90,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,224. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.91. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

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.