Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Target Price at $89.25

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.25.

GGG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

GGG stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 631,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 891,875. The company's fifty day moving average is $86.93 and its 200-day moving average is $83.24. The company has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.83. Graco has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. 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 business posted $0.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Graco will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This is an increase from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Graco's payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % 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 business'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 $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graco

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the third 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. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,502,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

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.