Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Graco were worth $140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Graco by 111.0% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 13,787 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 82.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 180,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,027,000 after acquiring an additional 81,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

Graco Trading Down 0.6%

GGG opened at $84.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.06 and a 12 month high of $92.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.