New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,954 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Graco worth $15,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.26. 672,704 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 743,798. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.91.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $562.27 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

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.