AlphaCore Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 9.1% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,261,000 after purchasing an additional 326,877 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Graco by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,828,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,737,000 after buying an additional 28,795 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Graco by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,797,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $144,194,000 after acquiring an additional 120,875 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 12.3% in the 1st 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 worth $111,691,000 after acquiring an additional 146,424 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Graco by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,291,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,851,000 after acquiring an additional 144,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $82.89 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.31. The stock has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.41.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.