Investment Management Corp of Ontario Increases Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Graco were worth $493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Graco by 209.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 18,931 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 63.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 2,616 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 16.4% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Graco by 18.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,267,000 after acquiring an additional 10,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 73.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $89.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $86.93 and a 200 day moving average of $83.24.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’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 company posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % 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 insiders.

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.