Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,070,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the June 15th total of 1,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 774,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Graco by 27.8% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after purchasing an additional 726,245 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $84.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.51. Graco has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Graco will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.75.

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.