Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives $86.80 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.80.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GGG. StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Graco Trading Up 1.0 %

Graco stock opened at $87.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.77. Graco has a 12 month low of $69.78 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 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 period last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Graco will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 1,010.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,223,000 after acquiring an additional 50,855 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 567.4% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 36,471 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,412,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,606,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Graco by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,440,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,618,000 after buying an additional 182,470 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.