Equities Analysts Set Expectations for Graco Inc.’s Q4 2023 Earnings (NYSE:GGG)

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their Q4 2023 earnings estimates for shares of Graco in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 8th. Zacks Research analyst S. Roy now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $0.77 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.75. The consensus estimate for Graco’s current full-year earnings is $3.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Graco’s Q1 2024 earnings at $0.61 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.65 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.81 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.77 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $0.82 EPS.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $539.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.12 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.93% and a return on equity of 25.08%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Graco in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.50.

Graco Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE GGG opened at $77.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.78. Graco has a 52 week low of $65.23 and a 52 week high of $87.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.40.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, October 16th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 13th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 7,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total value of $543,902.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,381 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,312.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 7,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total transaction of $543,902.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,381 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,312.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Etchart sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $225,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,850,080. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,930 shares of company stock worth $3,087,222. Insiders own 2.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProVise Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,015,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 18.8% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 667,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 47.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,920 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. 84.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions.