Canoe Financial LP Raises Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 359.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP owned about 0.38% of Graco worth $53,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% in 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 during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GGG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $85.26. 582,362 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 591,196. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.32. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

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.