BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Acquires 12,120 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,120 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Graco by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 7.1% during the second 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 during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 8.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the 2nd 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 own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $87.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.71. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.