Man Group plc Acquires New Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 79,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,020,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 2,650.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 2,540.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 982.6% in the 1st 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. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $79.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.62. The company has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.51 and a 1 year high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.