Cresset Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Graco Inc. $GGG

Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,069,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,345,000 after purchasing an additional 14,903 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,806,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 10.6% in the second quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 129,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,106,000 after buying an additional 12,352 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 81,706 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Graco by 572.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 437,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,549,000 after buying an additional 372,543 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $82.02 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $90.55. The stock has a market cap of $13.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.17.

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

Graco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase 15,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Monday, January 19th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.54%.

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.