HM Payson & Co. Raises Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 454 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tobam boosted its position in Graco by 2,330.8% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J Kevin Gilligan 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of GGG stock traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.23. 613,346 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 878,842. The company has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.40.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

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.