What is William Blair’s Estimate for Graco FY2025 Earnings?

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) – Equities research analysts at William Blair raised their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Graco in a report issued on Wednesday, January 29th. William Blair analyst R. Sparenblek now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings per share of $3.05 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.95. The consensus estimate for Graco’s current full-year earnings is $3.05 per share.

GGG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of GGG opened at $83.88 on Friday. Graco has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.14 and a 200 day moving average of $84.64.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 19,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after buying an additional 76,184 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Graco by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 528,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,550,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Graco by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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 paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

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.