Zacks Research Comments on Graco's Q1 Earnings (NYSE:GGG)

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Graco in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 22nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the industrial products company will earn $0.70 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.69. The consensus estimate for Graco's current full-year earnings is $2.89 per share.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report 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 objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.50.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $85.97. 933,715 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 680,210. Graco has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $86.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders 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 an increase from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 25.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,800,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.