iA Global Asset Management Inc. Buys 565 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Graco by 5.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,361,000 after purchasing an additional 91,794 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,237,000 after purchasing an additional 43,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Graco by 32.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $89.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.05 and a 200 day moving average of $83.36. The stock has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.