Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Purchased by Andra AP fonden

Andra AP fonden raised its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,400 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,261,000 after acquiring an additional 326,877 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Graco by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,828,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,737,000 after acquiring an additional 28,795 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Graco by 7.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,797,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $144,194,000 after purchasing an additional 120,875 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 12.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,337,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,691,000 after purchasing an additional 146,424 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 12.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,291,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,851,000 after purchasing an additional 144,134 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $81.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.42.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

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.