Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Invests $952,000 in Graco Inc. $GGG

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 2,650.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 78.6% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 982.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $81.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.03. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.51 and a 12-month high of $95.69. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $608.06 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.