Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 28.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,245 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,168 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $5,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 220.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG traded up $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $88.50. 603,437 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 730,704. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average is $84.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.35. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. The company's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Insider Activity at Graco

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 value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.