Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.40.

GGG has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $84.29. 585,871 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 743,439. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.01. Graco has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Graco will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised 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 worth $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised 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 worth $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 54.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $64,502,000 after acquiring an additional 286,212 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.