BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Boosts Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 51.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,229,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,846,000 after acquiring an additional 144,146 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,118,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $270,579,000 after purchasing an additional 498,724 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Graco by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,802,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,353,000 after purchasing an additional 71,788 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at about $152,941,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Graco by 213.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,257,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $109,136,000 after buying an additional 856,460 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.75.

Graco Price Performance

GGG traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.30. 87,342 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 719,848. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. Graco’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Graco 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.