Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 264,208 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,733 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.16% of Graco worth $23,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:GGG traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $90.39. 669,756 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 747,591. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $86.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.24. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Graco's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Graco 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.