OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Takes Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,396,470,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter worth about $161,949,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth about $97,625,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Graco by 1,636.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,011,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,888,000 after purchasing an additional 952,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 236.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,279,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,711,000 after buying an additional 899,174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded 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 target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Graco Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:GGG opened at $79.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.02 and a 200 day moving average of $81.74. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Graco Company 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.