GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 63,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GGG. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 50,855 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 567.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,009,000 after acquiring an additional 36,471 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Graco by 14.5% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,440,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,618,000 after purchasing an additional 182,470 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc raised its stake in shares of Graco by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,199,000 after purchasing an additional 9,673 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 884,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,683,000 after purchasing an additional 24,827 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GGG opened at $82.14 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.80 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.65.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

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.