Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Invests $248,000 in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Graco by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.85. 598,887 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 824,083. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $84.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.46.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco's payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on GGG shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

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.