Griffin Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Griffin Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Graco by 150.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 4,806 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 14.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Graco by 21.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 3.7% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 98,803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,251,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its stake in Graco by 6.0% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

Graco Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE GGG opened at $80.15 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $84.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.07. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86. The firm has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The firm had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Graco’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. 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.