Equitable Trust Co. Has $928,000 Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Equitable Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 58.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 982.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graco Trading Up 1.3%

GGG stock opened at $82.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.04. The stock has a market cap of $13.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.