WealthPLAN Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

WealthPLAN Partners LLC decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 29.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,192 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Graco in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 41.5% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 982.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in Graco in the second quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $82.19 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86. The stock has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.69 and a 200 day moving average of $84.03.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.