Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 12th, 2023

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,879 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Graco by 76.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 1,481.4% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.85% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 2.1 %

GGG stock opened at $67.65 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.48 and a twelve month high of $72.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.51 and a 200 day moving average of $67.11.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. Graco had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 21.49%. The company had revenue of $555.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total value of $2,184,251.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 601,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,226,200.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sant R. William Van sold 20,820 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.14, for a total value of $1,481,134.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total value of $2,184,251.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 601,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,226,200.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,948 shares of company stock valued at $4,096,787. Corporate insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Graco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Graco Profile

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Graco, Inc is a manufacturing company, which designs, manufactures and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense and spray fluid and powder materials. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Contractor and Process. The Industrial segment includes the Applied Fluid Technologies and Industrial Products divisions.