Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.00.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Graco in the third quarter valued at $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. National Pension Service acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

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.