Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 567.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 36,471 shares during the period. M&G Plc increased its stake in Graco by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,199,000 after buying an additional 9,673 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $876,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in Graco by 95.1% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 17,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 8,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 857,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,965,000 after acquiring an additional 14,527 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $89.62 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

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.