Leavell Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,602 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Graco by 5.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,361,000 after buying an additional 91,794 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Graco by 14.5% during the first 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Graco by 32.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 259,819 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE GGG opened at $87.81 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.28 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.28. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS 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 company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.