D.B. Root & Company LLC Grows Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 8.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Graco Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $88.75 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.29. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.28 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.