First Merchants Corp Buys 6,370 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

First Merchants Corp increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,370 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp owned about 0.05% of Graco worth $6,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Tobam raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded up $0.63 on Friday, hitting $82.28. 672,757 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 743,798. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.87. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

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.