Graco (NYSE:GGG) Cut to Hold (C+) at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco (NYSE:GGG) from a buy (b-) rating to a hold (c+) rating in a report issued on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

GGG has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Graco Stock Down 0.4%

GGG opened at $82.06 on Friday. Graco has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86. The stock has a market cap of $13.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.29 and a 200-day moving average of $84.29.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Graco will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is 37.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Graco by 0.3% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,562,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 41.5% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Graco by 0.4% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 36,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.