Norges Bank Makes New $177.43 Million Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,105,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,434,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.25% of Graco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Graco by 93.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 194.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 220,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,339,000 after acquiring an additional 145,599 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 33.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $299,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GGG. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Down 1.3 %

Graco stock opened at $83.35 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $93.25. The company has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $85.03 and its 200 day moving average is $85.64.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.