Maren Capital LLC Purchases 48,444 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Maren Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 594,713 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,444 shares during the period. Graco accounts for 3.8% of Maren Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Maren Capital LLC owned about 0.35% of Graco worth $50,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Graco by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,800,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $151,736,000 after acquiring an additional 29,224 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,322 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Graco by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 975,960 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,207,000 after buying an additional 247,589 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 247,741 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,882,000 after buying an additional 26,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,030 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Graco Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of GGG traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.69. 978,210 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 804,936. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $83.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.17. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86. The company has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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.