Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.00.

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Optas LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Graco by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $83.28. The company had a trading volume of 732,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 805,575. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.51. Graco has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 predict that Graco will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.