M&T Bank Corp Acquires 7,832 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,832 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth $30,000. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $87.60 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.31.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

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.