Narwhal Capital Management Acquires 20,728 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Narwhal Capital Management increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 29.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,313 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,728 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management owned 0.05% of Graco worth $8,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 90.2% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.89. 844,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 729,517. The company's fifty day moving average is $83.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.79. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Graco's payout ratio 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.