Addenda Capital Inc. Makes New $4.84 Million Investment in Graco Inc. $GGG

Addenda Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 56,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,837,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $496,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 1.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 388,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,469,000 after buying an additional 6,273 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 402,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,577,000 after buying an additional 27,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Graco by 92.6% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.33.

Graco Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $83.09 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $89.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.14. The company has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.54%.

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.