Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 14.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,093 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Graco worth $8,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at $170,661,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 116.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,201,000 after acquiring an additional 396,125 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Graco by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 508,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,688,000 after acquiring an additional 246,984 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 3,165.4% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 249,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,467,000 after acquiring an additional 242,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Graco by 12.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,023,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $179,083,000 after purchasing an additional 226,284 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Graco from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Graco from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Graco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.50.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $88.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $95.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.31.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. The firm had revenue of $593.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.99 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 23.33%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.19%.

Graco declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, Director J Kevin Gilligan sold 12,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $1,146,330.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Angela F. Wordell sold 2,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.22, for a total value of $263,999.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,419.20. The trade was a 17.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,394 shares of company stock worth $1,739,326. Company insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.