Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 27.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 49,707 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.08% of Graco worth $11,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 128.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $84.75 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.10.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The company had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

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 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.