Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $89.25.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $89.04 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.27. Graco has a one year low of $77.03 and a one year high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

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.