Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 5.5% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 8.8% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Graco by 1.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Graco by 6.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $83.35 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.65. 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 capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

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.