DA Davidson Reaffirms "Neutral" Rating for Graco (NYSE:GGG)

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating restated by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $79.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock. DA Davidson's price objective points to a potential downside of 10.50% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered Graco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 742,782. Graco has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $82.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.81. The company has a market capitalization of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The business had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Graco will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam grew its position in Graco by 90.2% during the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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